Louisville to Become the Cornerstone of a Nature-Inspired Medical Trial
The Green Heart Project is hoping to save lives. In an innovative new clinical trial, the project seeks to use nature to improve air quality in Louisville, KY, who received a failing grade from the American Lung Association in its annual report. There, severe health conditions like asthma and heart disease are rising due to this increase of poor air quality.
The clinical trial is heralded by the University of Louisville Medical Center, Hydrae Design Laboratory, and the Nature Conservancy. Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar at the University, remarked that a trial of this design and magnitude has never before been attempted, “there has never been a rigorous scientific study that quantified the health effects of urban greening. This will be the first attempt to understand, is nature a viable, replicable therapy?”[1]
Louisville loses roughly 55,000 trees of its 3.3 million trees each year, an issue the program wants to combat. In 2018, the project will plant 8,000 trees and shrubs in South Louisville, and the hope is that the data from this research will lay new foundations for city health protocols. “We all want to see a safer, healthier neighborhood,” says Jennifer Nunn a resident of Oakdale, where the project will take place. “One success will get people’s attention, then it will spread, it will grow.”[2]
