Applied physiology involves the application of physiological knowledge to safeguard an organism’s homeostasis in the presence of both internal (e.g. ageing, disease) and external (e.g. ambient environment, physical activity) perturbations. In this 21^st century, planet earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, which will increasingly affect multiple facets of human life (e.g. greater risk of heat related disorders and mortality across the globe). Recent scientific advances in understanding of the impact of heat stress on human physiological functioning have shown that exercise capacity is impaired with a rise in thermal strain, which is determined by the thermal environment (heat stress). Occupational and leisure time physical activity under heat stress can disrupt homeostatic processes and lead to the development of clinically relevant disorders (i.e. muscle cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion and heat stroke) and fluid disturbances (i.e.. hypovolemia, hypernatremia and hyponatremia). However, humans can adapt to a wide range of environmental stressors through genetic, cultural/behavioural, and functional (physiological) adaptations, which also allow them to settle in regions where it is extremely hot (Debevec, Longman & Bourgois, 2024). Especially functional (physiological) adaptations, i.e. heat acclimation (artificial) and/or heat acclimatization (natural) which are non-genetic and occur during an individual’s lifetime (i.e. phenotypic), are effective strategies to improve the body’s capacity to dissipate heat, increasing heat tolerance and lessening the risk of heat related disorders. However, in scientific literature, heat stress is often assess using only ambient temperature without full consideration for the three other environmental (i.e. humidity, radiation and wind) and personal (e.g. clothing and activity level) parameters, that define heat stress. The overarching goal of this project is to improve and optimize current heat survivability (heat tolerance) frameworks and approaches (i.e. acclimation, acclimatization, cooling strategies), taking into account all environmental and personal parameters of heat stress that ultimately lead to individual heat strain.

Debevec T, Longman DP and Bourgois JG (2024), Defining adaptation within applied physiology – is there room for improvement? Front. Physiol. 15:1459026. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1459026