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Jefferson Health

Institute for Smart & Healthy Cities

Transforming Urban Environments

Jefferson’s Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities was created to support the research, innovation and education that is happening across the university focusing on transforming urban environments into smart and healthy cities. The institute is conceived as an aggregator and facilitator of transdisciplinary research and education across multiple disciplines driving the future of our cities and communities. Supported by data and smart technologies, Smart Cities is an emerging paradigm in the development of urban environments in an attempt to build more efficient, healthier and livable cities.

We’re changing the way we live, work, travel and learn for a healthier future.

  • Understanding the entire city as a system and solving tomorrow’s most pressing problems: urbanization, public health, energy and transportation
  • Making a direct impact at the community and city scale by researching the intersection of environmental conditions, housing, workplace, transit, public infrastructure and health
  • Finding opportunities to further link the institute to our increasingly connected clinical systems
  • Partnering with technology incubators to provide students access and support through the co-invention process

The Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities is a collaborative effort between the College of Architecture and the Built Environment, College of Population Health, and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce.

Project Highlights Venice Biennale Exhibit 2025

Join us for a special preview of the exhibition INTERSECTIONS: Health, Environment, and Design at the Gutman Library, East Falls Campus – Lower Floor. Be among the first to experience the exhibit inside the Jefferson CAVE, a multi-sided immersive environment that brings the themes of health, sustainability, and human-centered design to life.

Location: Gutman Library, East Falls Campus – Lower Floor
Date: Friday, May 2, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

View Exhibit Information

Cities Under Climate Threat: Venice – Philadelphia

In a joint effort, students from Thomas Jefferson University and Università Iuav di Venezia had an opportunity to showcase their projects at the Palazzo Badoer in Venice during the Venice Biennale 2023.

The exhibit was also featured at Design Philadelphia - one of the oldest design festivals in the country. For nearly a decade, Jefferson has been an active participant because we value engagement and understand the transformative power of design.

Design Philadelphia Celebrates City’s Creativity & Innovation
                                          View Exhibit

Project Highlights Rome 2050

The Smart and Healthy Cities Studio shows the complex interconnection between climate change and the macro, mezzo, and micro–contextual relationships between factors that have often not been considered. The studio offers solutions for how cities can be better prepared for future global crises and how to transform cities under climate threats into more resilient towns to support a fair city to live, work, and do business.

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Grants & Proposals

Grants & Proposals

Funding Landscape

Thomas Jefferson University (Jefferson) has sought Hanover’s assistance in identifying funding opportunities to support its Institute for Smart & Healthy Cities (JISHC). Building on the emerging concept of “Smart Cities,” in which urban environments harness data and technology to improve living conditions, JISHC will serve as a collaborative and transdisciplinary hub for research, education, innovation, and programmatic efforts that will contribute to building healthier and more livable cities

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ERASMUS+KA171

Thomas Jefferson University in partnership with Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy, has been the recipient of an Erasmus+ for Higher Education grant funded by the European Union Program (ERASMUS+ KA 171). The grant supports student mobility for training and education, as well as staff mobility for training and teaching between the Institute and Università Iuav di Venezia.

Rolling Applications for 2024/25
All activities must be completed by July 31, 2025

Application Form

Student Research & Travel Award

The Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities is pleased to announce the Smart & Healthy Cities Student Research and Travel Award. These grants provide funding to support graduate student research with a focus on the quality of life in urban settings.

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News & Events

    • Dr. Edgar Stach Awarded UNESCO Chair

      Dr. Edgar Stach Awarded UNESCO Chair in Smart, Healthy & Learning Cities

      Professor Stach will lead interdisciplinary research and global collaborations to advance urban resilience, sustainability, and public health. 

      Learn More about the Honor

    • 2023/ 24 SEED Grant Projects

      2023 SEED Grant Project & Descriptions

      The Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities is pleased to announce the Smart & Healthy Cities Student Research and Travel Award. These grants provide funding to support graduate student research with a focus on the quality of life in urban settings.

      Review Projects

    • IUAV & Jefferson Collaboration

      Network of Knowledge - University Collaboration

      The collaboration between Università Iuav di Venezia and Thomas Jefferson University is developing a Centre of Excellence on Resilient Cities and Climate-proof Design and Planning. The expertise and knowledge combination provides a cutting-edge approach to rethinking the resilient city concept. 

      View Details
    Research Areas

    Research Areas

    Urban Scale

    • Characterize the interrelationship of urbanization, transportation and energy on population health.
    • Analyze human behavior changes and the drivers for change though data-driven analysis, modeling, and simulation and visualization. 
    • Evaluate the research outcomes in statistical models to plan and predict future changes in the domains health, energy and transportation.

    Building Scale

    • Predict the effects of daylighting and natural ventilation on health outcomes in work, life and healing spaces.
    • Develop new concepts for sustainability and net zero energy buildings and predict health benefits. 
    • Understand human behavior in relationship to building systems, space and environment.

    Device Scale

    • Characterize the connectivities and interfaces between the built environment and humans.
    • Develop human centric building controls and management technology.
    • Understand the interconnectivity between health data and environmental data, micro climate and air pollution.
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    2022/ 23 SEED Grants Projects

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    Soft: a Prototype for Responsive Environments & Neurodivergence
    Urban Mobility & Population Health
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    News & Student Research Projects

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    Urban Innovation Devices
    Smart Highrise Studio
    Sheba Medical Center

    Podcast Institute for Smart & Healthy Cities Connects Three Colleges in Cross Disciplinary Effort

    Jefferson's College of Architecture & The Built Environment, the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering & Commerce and the College of Population Health come together to develop cities in the face of climate change, social inequity, rapid urbanization and health disparities.

    Read the Nexus Story

    Related Links

    College of Architecture & the Built Environment
    College of Population Health
    Kanbar College of Design, Engineering & Commerce
    Sidney Kimmel Medical College
    Center for Digital Health & Data Science