The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received funds from the Natural Hazards Center Research Award Program to study the transportation-related health care access conditions that continue to affect the social vulnerability of Puerto Rican communities years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in the deadliest U.S.-based natural disaster in 100 years.

Diana Ramirez-Rios, a lecturer, and William A. Wallace, a professor, will use the grant to explore the availability and capacity of roads both from and to medical facilities, and the availability of medical care in Puerto Rico. To better understand how the lack of access to health care affects social vulnerability, the researchers will also analyze the communities’ disaster resilience including their response logistics, particularly those activities that preserve human health and welfare.

Their work at the intersection of transportation engineering, disaster resilience, public health, and the social sciences will provide public health and transportation strategies that improve the urgent health care needs following a natural disaster.

The Natural Hazards Center is the National Science Foundation’s designated information clearinghouse for the societal dimensions of hazards and disasters.