EXPLORE THE CENTER

🌎 Center for Health & Nature | Our Story 

Nature is good medicine. We're here to prove it and put it into practice.

The Center for Health & Nature (CHN) was launched in 2018 as a partnership between Houston Methodist and Texas A&M University. Our goal is to improve health through exposure to nature's healing elements. We believe nature belongs in medicine, in how health care is delivered, and in the places where people live and work every day.

🔬 Building the Evidence

In our first years, CHN focused on building a strong scientific foundation. We developed rigorous methods for studying how nature affects health, helped create care environments that bring nature in, and used our findings to guide urban design. Our research shows that nature can significantly improve both mental and physical well-being.

With institutional core funding and a dedicated Research Innovation Fund, CHN supports studies that accelerate the integration of nature into medicine, health care systems, and everyday environments.

🌱 Growing Our Impact

CHN’s interdisciplinary research focuses on how nature exposure affects cardiovascular health, cancer survivorship, mental well-being, and urban health. This work has produced high-impact publications, shaped evidence-based design, and fostered new collaborations across clinical care and public health.

In 2025, CHN entered a period of strategic growth. We expanded our core team, recruited new Faculty Fellows, and strengthened our partnerships. Our Fellows bring expertise from medicine, public health, environmental science, design, engineering, and data science, helping us turn research into real-world, scalable solutions.

That same year, CHN hosted the Nature and Health Conference in Houston. The conference brought together researchers, clinicians, designers, policymakers, and community partners to share new research, spark dialogue across sectors, and form partnerships that carry our work into practice and policy.

CHN is also part of the Nature and Health Alliance, serving as its Texas chapter and connecting our work with a broader network advancing the science and practice of nature and health. CHN Director Dr. Jay Maddock serves on the Alliance’s Executive Committee, helping strengthen collaboration and translate evidence into action across communities and sectors.

🌅 Looking Ahead: Guided by a comprehensive strategic plan, CHN is working to:

• Understand the mechanisms — the biological and behavioral pathways through which nature supports resilience, recovery, and health.

• Scale what works — developing interventions that bring natural elements into health care and the built environment.

• Expand access — ensuring nature-informed health solutions reach communities equitably.

• Design healthier cities — using artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to inform urban design and planning through a health lens.

We aim to become a national leader in nature-informed health innovation and to build healthier, more resilient communities where nature is part of how we heal.