The research idea is to monitor heat stress in humans by analyzing extracellular vesicles secreted by cells. The extracellular vesicles have a unique molecular “fingerprint” that can inform us about the cell’s health, and we will develop an efficient pipeline to extract the cellular “fingerprints” from urine and blood samples. This will pave the way for future research where mechanisms of cellular heat stress can be identified and targeted to decrease the negative health impacts of heat waves caused by global warming. Ultimately, this research may help to reduce hospitalizations during heat waves and, thereby, reduce the healthcare system’s carbon emission.
SDU researchers:
- Per Svenningsen, Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, psvenningsen@health.sdu.dk
- Kim Ravnskjær, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, ravnskjaer@bmb.sdu.dk