Denis Nash has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair Award during his upcoming sabbatical. The award, one of the most selective in the Fulbright Scholars program, aims to “create, develop, and reinforce Franco-American cooperation in the disciplines essential to French and American society and to the mutual understanding of both peoples.” During the fellowship period in Spring 2026, Nash will be based at Sorbonne University in Paris, where he will collaborate with French researchers on advancing research and training focused on the population health impacts of climate change and other large-scale exposures.
Nash will focus on strengthening transatlantic research collaborations and building capacity for public health scholarship in this emerging field. His work will bring together teams from Sorbonne University’s Institut Pierre Louis d’Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique (iPLesp), Université Paris Cité’s Centre Population et Développement (CEPED), and the University of Bordeaux’s Institut de Santé Publique, d’Épidémiologie et de Développement (ISPED), along with partners in New York and across the U.S.
“This award is a tremendous honor and an exciting opportunity to collaborate more deeply with colleagues in France who already are, or are interested in, working at the intersection of climate and population health,” says Nash. “The world is facing a rapidly evolving global challenge, and it’s essential that we develop innovative, interdisciplinary strategies to better understand, respond, and adapt to the health threats posed by extreme weather events.”
