About

Wael Al-Delaimy is a professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego, located at 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA. His research is focused on multidisciplinary epidemiology with an emphasis on the health of vulnerable populations both locally and globally. He has a background in practicing medicine in Iraq and Jordan before pursuing a PhD in epidemiology from Otago University in New Zealand, completed in 2000. Al-Delaimy has held positions as a Research Fellow and Research Associate at Harvard School of Public Health and has worked with the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Since 2004, he has been a faculty member at UCSD, progressing from Assistant to Full Professor. His global research activities encompass non-communicable diseases, mental health, climate change, tobacco, ethics and human rights, and refugee health. He is actively involved in academic and research development in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, engaging indigenous populations, refugees, immigrants, minorities, and populations in low and middle-income countries. Al-Delaimy leads major NIH Fogarty International Center programs, including the Geohealth Hub on Climate Change Health Impacts in the Middle East and North Africa and the Global Center on Climate Change and Health-Energy-Food-Health Systems, involving over 75 faculty and researchers from 11 universities. His work in climate change and environmental health positions him as a global leader in this field. He has contributed to the integration of climate change into health sciences at UCSD, leading to new faculty hires and the development of the UCSD Institute for Public Health. His research also includes chronic diseases and mental health among refugees and high-risk populations, with a focus on resilience, coping mechanisms, and capacity building among healthcare providers through initiatives like the Global Mental Health Initiative. Al-Delaimy leads the Concentration on Public Mental Health within UCSD's Masters of Public Health program and has directed several NIH and state-funded programs aimed at public health improvement and tobacco control in Native American communities. His work emphasizes the cultural aspects of resilience and mental health prevention among populations impacted by trauma, war, and climate change.

Selected publications

• Mediating role of greenness on the heat-mortality association in Jordan: Differences by population density

  ISEE Conference Abstracts · 2024-07-31

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Exploring the pathways linking prenatal and early childhood greenness exposure to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms during childhood

  ISEE Conference Abstracts · 2024-07-31

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Telehealth as a tool to climate resilient systems and equities: Case of Lebanon

  ISEE Conference Abstracts · 2023-09-17

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• The Geohub: Capacity Building in Climate Change health Impacts

  ISEE Conference Abstracts · 2023-09-17

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND AND AIM: The Middle East and North Africa is one of the regions that is impacted the most by climate change, and its health impacts in terms of high air pollution and dust storms, limited water sources, extreme record heat, and lack of adaptation to these impacts. The aim of this presentation to address the capacity building process and its challenges. METHOD: Literature review and background about climate change health impacts in the region. Evidence from the other presentations of the symposium. RESULTS: The NIH funded Goehub on Climate Change Health Impacts in Middle East and North Africa is a rare attempt to address capacity building. The presentation will highlight how within a short period the impacts are already tangible and gives hope to other impacted countries from the less developed countries. The presentation will address the main challenges as it related to addressing climate change in this region and especially with regards to capacity building. CONCLUSIONS: Collaboration between higher income and lower income countries that are impacted the most by climate change is a cost-effective short and long term strategy and an ethical responsibility by the countries that contributes the most towards global warming, Solutions are needed in the global south, and this requires commitments form institutions and governments.

  PublisherDOI

• Beyond simple disclosure: addressing concerns about industry influence on public health

  BMJ Global Health · 2021-02-01 · 5 citations

  letterOpen accessSenior author

  The subversive influence of industries peddling tobacco, alcohol, ultraprocessed food and drink, and gambling (known as unhealthy commodity industries) is a recognised threat to public health, including the production of evidence and the implementation of public health policy.1 There has been considerable work in this area trying to expose the influence.1 In this issue of BMJ Global Health, two papers further explore these issues. In the first paper by Knai et al, 2 the authors make a convincing case of using a complex systems approach to conduct research across unhealthy commodity industries; reframing their impact ‘not so much as an aggregation of individual ‘choices’ but more a result of the interactions between diverse actors, factors and their environments’ which ‘are greater than the sum of their parts’, producing change across the system. They argue that such an approach will be more effective in uncovering the diverse and complex ways in which these industries exert influence, resulting in an improved response from the public health community. The second paper by Lacy-Nichols and Marten,3 argue that ‘power has been overlooked in conceptualisations of the Commercial Determinants of Health’ by presenting coercion and appeasement as two broad ways in which industry uses power to influence public health policy. Coercion can be antagonistic (and so, more visible)—for example, aggressive lobbying and campaigns against policies. However, appeasement takes a more subtle approach to neutralise opposition by establishing partnerships between industry and public health. Such appeasement can undermine the integrity of the researchers, allow for the science to be questioned and can fracture public …

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Perceptions of Challenges Affecting Research Ethics Committees’ Members at Medical and Health Science Colleges in Omani and Jordanian Universities

  Journal of Academic Ethics · 2021-04-09 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract In recent years there has been an increase in research conducted in the Middle East, with a corresponding increase in the challenges faced by members of the Research Ethics Committees (RECs). This study compares the structures of Omani and Jordanian RECs and investigates the perceptions of the challenges affecting the work of the REC members in Oman and Jordan. A convenience sample of 34 Omani and 66 Jordanian participants from 21 universities was recruited in this cross-sectional study. Almost 70% disagreed that the members of RECs are unqualified, providing comments without justification; half believed that members have limited experience in research, and almost three-quarters that they have different opinions regarding some ethical issues. No significant differences were found between Omani and Jordanian REC members regarding their perception of the challenges, except for the perception that reviewing proposals is a time-consuming task ( p = 0.048) and that multi-REC centres are less available ( p = 0.026). The regression model showed that there were significantly more male members of Jordanian RECs, and that Jordanian members were less likely to receive formal training. In conclusion, the current structure of RECs and the challenges faced by members need to be re-evaluated by decision makers to improve the overall quality of research activities, and to ensure that current REC members’ practices adhere to international standards.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Awards & honors

• 2024 Integrity Award (UC San Diego)
• 2022 Appreciation for Service (International Society for Env…
• 2025 Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R)