Light4Health: How Does Light Impact Health?

Authors

Abstract

We use light to control how we perceive and engage with environments in which we live, work and play. In turn, light affects our endocrine system and circadian rhythm and impacts our emotions, focus and performance. And the practical purposes to which we apply light are expanding dramatically. Light Research at Jefferson addresses a wide spectrum of questions on how we do—and could— use light, and how light affects human psychology and physiology. It includes both deep, fieldspecific investigations and interdisciplinary work engaging faculty from architecture and interior design to engineering and material science to basic bioscience and clinical care.

It also extends to education: Jefferson is a key partner in Light4Health, an international collaboration to develop an innovative health research-based academic curriculum in lighting design education. The project is underwritten by Erasmus+, the European Union’s program that promotes infusion of research-based discovery back into education to address emerging societal needs. Jefferson’s collaborators include universities in Denmark, England, Germany, Russia and Sweden.

Recommended Citation

(2020) "Light4Health: How Does Light Impact Health?," Thomas Jefferson University Research Magazine: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 17.
Available at: https://jdc.jefferson.edu/researchmagazine/vol1/iss1/17