The Asian Collective for Health Systems (TACHS), which has its Secretariat at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), is delighted to invite you to a webinar titled ‘Rethinking Workforce Competencies for Climate Ready Health Systems’ on Monday, February 16, 2026 at 8:30 am IST/8:00 pm MST.

The webinar will feature a keynote address by Cecilia Sorensen, Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia Irving Medical Center and Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. There will also be a presentation by Priyanka Tomar, Research Associate, CSEP. The session will be moderated by Neethi Rao, Fellow, CSEP.

Register here to attend

About the event

The increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related events—such as heatwaves, floods, air pollution, and vector-borne disease outbreaks—are placing unprecedented pressures on health systems across Asia. Human resources for health are at the frontline of response, yet there remains limited clarity on the specific competencies required across different health cadres to effectively address climate-related health risks.

This webinar will present ongoing research that examines climate-health competencies for diverse health workforce categories, including clinicians, public health professionals, and community health workers, within Asian contexts. The discussion will explore existing global and regional competency frameworks, assess gaps in current training and policy approaches, and highlight emerging practices for integrating climate considerations into health workforce development.

By bringing together global experts and researchers, the webinar aims to contribute to a more systematic understanding of the skills, knowledge, and capacities needed to strengthen climate-resilient health systems.

Keynote Address

Cecilia Sorensen

Cecilia Sorensen, MD is the Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia Irving Medical Center and Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. As a physician-investigator at the nexus of climate change and human health, translating research into policy, clinical action, and education to build resilience in vulnerable communities is the focus of her research. Her recent work has spanned domestic as well as international emergent health issues related to climate change, including, extreme heat, degraded air quality, extreme weather events, emerging infectious diseases, women’s health, and worker health. Dr Sorensen is a member of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change and serves on the Steering Committee for the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative for Decarbonization of the U.S. Health Sector. She is the co-editor of the textbook Climate Change and Human Health: From Science to Practice.

Presenter

Priyanka Tomar

Priyanka Tomar is a Research Associate in the Health and Human Development vertical at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). She is a public health researcher with a regional focus on South and Southeast Asia and brings over eight years of experience in policy-oriented research on health systems and human development.

Prior to joining CSEP, she served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur. She previously worked in the Health vertical at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, where she contributed to research on health system reforms, the G20 health agenda, food safety regulations, disease prevention, traditional medicine, and migration-related health issues.

She has co-authored several publications on development and public health policy, particularly in the Asian and G20 contexts. Priyanka holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Delhi.

Moderator

Neethi Rao

Neethi V. Rao is a Fellow in the Health and Human Development team at CSEP. She is a health policy and systems researcher with interests in health systems governance and intersectoral public policy at the intersections of environment and health. Her research and practice have involved providing technical support in strategic planning, policy design, implementation, and evaluation including impact assessments for governments and international development agencies. She also develops and delivers online and in-person training programs on participatory governance, good health research practice and promoting evidence-informed policy. She worked with the health systems governance team at the World Health Organization, supporting research and advocacy towards a World Health Assembly Resolution proposal on social participation for 2024. She is also Adjunct Faculty at the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru.

About TACHS

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.

Please contact Gurmeet Kaur at GKaur@csep.org for general queries and Ayesha Manocha at AManocha@csep.org for media queries.