Planetary health research in 2018: a call for abstracts
Authors: Samuel S Myers, Christopher D Golden, Amalia A Almada, Liz Grant
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2017)

Since the publication of the Rockefeller–Lancet Commission Report on Planetary Health,1Whitmee S Haines A Beyrer C et al.Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health.Lancet. 2015; 386: 1973-2028Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1122) Google Scholar interest in planetary health has grown. Planetary health has been defined as “the health of human civilisation and the state of the natural systems on which it depends”. Planetary health research focuses on understanding and quantifying the human health effects of accelerating environmental change, including changes in climate, freshwater availability, biodiversity, food and nutrition, sustainable fishing, agricultural productivity, air quality, and water or airborne diseases. To catalyse innovative ideas among the disparate yet integrally related fields, The Lancet Planetary Health will publish a booklet of outstanding abstracts in planetary health research, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Planetary Health Alliance on May 29–31, 2018, at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. This publication will help to introduce readers to cutting-edge knowledge from a rapidly evolving transdisciplinary body of research that has profound implications for policy and practice across the sustainable development agenda. Researchers from any discipline relevant to planetary health are invited to submit an abstract of their research describing a recent study or a project currently in process that contributes to the gaps in knowledge, governance, and imagination as reported by the Rockefeller–Lancet Commission. In particular, we hope to have comprehensive submissions relating to the approaches, methods, tools, and indicators to assess how, where, and why environmental change leads to meaningful public health impacts. We are looking for geographically diverse examples of planetary health research and solutions, covering areas as diverse as the effects of climate change on human health; environmental change and food systems/human nutrition; land use change and vector-borne disease; urbanisation and mental health; zoonotic disease emergence; freshwater scarcity and communicable diseases; natural disasters and human displacement; and air quality impacts of deforestation. These are only a few of the many possible topics we welcome for submission. If you have any questions about whether the topic is relevant, please visit the Planetary Health Alliance website to see relevant themes or e-mail us at [email protected] Abstracts should be 400 words maximum in length and present detailed information on the design of the study, methods, and results, even if preliminary. Attention should be given to describing the impact of a change in the structure or function of a natural system(s) on a dimension (or dimensions) of human health. Abstracts should be written in English. Please lay out your abstract under the following headings: title (including a study descriptor if appropriate—eg, randomised), background (including context and aim), methods, findings, and interpretation. Abstracts should not contain references, tables, or figures. Please include the names, titles, highest degrees, and affiliations of all authors; postal and email addresses for the corresponding author; any funding received (if none, please state this); and a brief summary of the contributions of each author and any competing interests. Further editorial guidelines are available on The Lancet Planetary Health website. Reports of randomised trials should follow the CONSORT extension for abstracts. The abstract submission deadline is 1700 h EST (2200 h GMT) on Jan 5, 2018. Please submit your abstract at https://planetaryhealthannualmeeting.org. Notification of acceptance will be given by 1700 h EST on Feb 9, 2018. Authors of those abstracts accepted will be invited to present as oral or poster presenters at the 2018 Planetary Health Annual Meeting. A subset of accepted abstracts will also be included in the published booklet of the Best Abstracts in Planetary Health to be released at the Planetary Health Alliance Annual Meeting in May, 2018. We declare no competing interests.