Rutgers Institute for Health faculty member Soko Setoguchi has been appointed as a 2024-2025 National Institute of Health (NIH) Climate and Health Scholar. This program aims to connect climate and health scientists from outside the federal government with NIH researchers to facilitate knowledge sharing. Setoguchi will collaborate with the National Cancer Institute during her tenure as an NIH Scholar.
Setoguchi is a general internist and epidemiologist at Rutgers, where she holds multiple roles including professor of medicine and epidemiology, co-director of the Rutgers Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Science, and director of several climate-related initiatives. Her research focuses on health services research and pharmacoepidemiology, particularly concerning chronic diseases. In light of growing climate change threats, her work now includes studies on how climate impacts health care.
She leads the NIH-supported P50 Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity, part of the Health Equity Action Network funded by NIMHD. Additionally, she co-leads an action group focused on environmental exposures within this network. At the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology, Setoguchi founded a special interest group that explores "Environmental Pharmacoepidemiology," addressing how environmental factors intersect with healthcare delivery.
The NIH Climate and Health Scholars Program was established in 2023 to enhance climate and health research capacity at NIH. The program supports various projects aligned with the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative’s Strategic Framework. Thirteen scholars have been selected to complete diverse projects which will be presented publicly through the NIH Seminar Series.
