Vedha Viyas Thilagarajan from the FLOURISH Lab served as a panelist at the “Health and Climate Change” session, where he discussed the findings of his scoping review,” The Effect of Temperature on Pregnancy Outcomes” at the Annual Canada-Caribbean Institute (CCI) Symposium 2024, which took place from October 16 to 19, 2024.

Vedha Viyas Thilagarajan is a first year graduate student within the Health Research Methodology program at McMaster. He has a background in engineering, biomedical sciences and global health.

The CCI was established in 2020 through a partnership between The University of The West Indies (UWI) and Brock University in Canada, with the objective of fostering collaboration between Canada and the Caribbean to address critical social, environmental, and economic challenges that underpin the shared prosperity and development of both regions. Presently, the CCI collaborates with several colleges and universities, including McMaster University, across the two regions.

This symposium, marking the third iteration of the Annual CCI symposium and the inaugural event held in Canada, attracted a diverse group of researchers, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders. Participants engaged in meaningful dialogue aimed at identifying solutions related to mitigating the impacts of climate change, rectifying environmental injustices, enhancing community resilience, and advancing alternative energy sources.

This year’s symposium brought together over 180 participants and included presentations on various thematic panels, such as alternative technologies, sustainable development, health, and climate change mitigation.

The scoping review presented by Vedha Viyas Thilagarajan critically appraised the methodological limitations in existing studies and sought to inform future research endeavors aimed at developing a robust model to evaluate the implications of extreme temperatures on pregnancy outcomes.