International Researchers Convene in Oslo to Set the First Consensus Standards for Heat Therapy Research

The 1st International Heat Therapy Research Symposium, 22–24 September 2026 at The Well, opens the formal Delphi consensus process for heat therapy research — and marks the inaugural gathering of the Sauna Research Foundation.

OSLO, Norway, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers from across nine countries will meet at The Well in Oslo, Norway, from 22 to 24 September 2026 for the 1st International Heat Therapy Research Symposium, the opening in-person discussion of a formal Delphi consensus study intended to establish the first shared definitions, standardized terminology, and methodological reporting standards for heat therapy and sauna research. The symposium is convened by the Sauna Research Foundation (SRF), a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The meeting responds to a problem the field has carried for a decade. Research on sauna and heat therapy has expanded rapidly, with landmark cohort studies and dozens of clinical trials pointing toward measurable benefits for cardiovascular, metabolic, and mental health. That growth has not been matched by scientific coordination. There is no agreed definition of heat therapy, no standardized terminology across modalities such as traditional sauna, infrared, and hot water immersion, and no common approach to reporting the parameters that determine a study's result — frequency, intensity (temperature and humidity), time, type, length of intervention, heat volume, and progression. Most published studies enroll fewer than 40 participants, and, according to the most recent scoping review on heat therapy, 42 percent have no control group. The consequence is a body of evidence that cannot be reliably compared, pooled, or replicated.

The Delphi Study
The Delphi method is an established consensus-building technique in medical research, using anonymous, iterative rounds of expert rating with controlled feedback between rounds. Over two days of structured working sessions, participants will produce a working definition of heat therapy that distinguishes it from heat acclimation and from the use of heat as a sports performance aid; a standardized glossary of modalities and intervention parameters; a methodology reporting checklist; and a prioritized research agenda identifying the field's most critical evidence gaps, including heat therapy and mental health, under-researched patient populations, and direct head-to-head comparisons between modalities.

Those outputs become the preliminary consensus statements. Following the symposium, SRF will distribute them to an external panel of 30 to 40 international researchers and clinicians renowned for their work on heat therapy, identified across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, for iterative rating and refinement. Consensus is defined as 80 percent agreement, and the process runs up to three rounds of statement evaluation, concluding in a peer-reviewed publication. The study is stewarded by Earric Lee, PhD, of the Montreal Heart Institute, with Ashley Mason, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, serving as Steering Committee Co-Chair.

"For years, this field has been publishing studies without a clear direction. Well-designed studies published in reputable journals, yet they cannot be compared side by side because everyone uses a different terminology and reports items differently. Two days of open discussion among the people who design and run these studies, followed by taking the finalized statements to an external expert panel, will make the consensus durable. It is the least glamorous yet most useful thing anyone has done for heat therapy research in a decade."
— Earric Lee, PhD, Lead Scientist, Sauna Research Foundation, and Delphi Study Steward

Participants
The Delphi working group comprises 21 researchers from 14 institutions across nine countries, of whom 15 will attend the symposium in person. Participating institutions include the University of Portsmouth and Bangor University (United Kingdom); the University of California, San Francisco, Indiana University, and St Mary's University (United States); the Montreal Heart Institute (Canada); Uppsala University (Sweden); Maastricht University (Netherlands); Oslo Metropolitan University and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Norway); the HULA Helsinki Clinic for Sports and Exercise Medicine and the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Finland); the University of Bern (Switzerland); and the University of Otago (New Zealand). Sessions will be chaired by participating researchers, with student presentations opening several of the working sessions.

"A Delphi process only works if the right people are in the room and the right questions are asked. What is striking about this group is how international and diversified it is in terms of research experience and clinical training. The standards we set in Oslo are the standards these researchers will spend their careers working to."
— Ashley Mason, PhD, Scientific Advisor, Sauna Research Foundation, and Steering Committee Co-Chair

A First Gathering, a New Name, a New Mission
The Oslo symposium is the first research gathering the Foundation has convened and is the direct expression of a mandate that the organization has reshaped over the past two years. Founded in 2020 as the Sauna Research Institute to pursue a line of laboratory research, the organization revamped its mission to serve as a coordinating body — an organization capable of convening researchers across countries and related disciplines, establishing common standards, and directing funding toward work that meets those standards.

That shift was driven by the arrival of two board members in 2024. Earric Lee, PhD, an integrative physiologist and exercise medicine researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute, was recruited to steward the Delphi consensus process and serves as the Foundation's Lead Scientist. Hans Hägglund, MD, PhD, professor at Uppsala University, former national cancer coordinator for Sweden, and a sitting member of the International Sauna Association board, gave the Foundation direct standing within the international sauna community. Their addition formed a board capable of convening the field rather than studying it directly.

As part of that initiative, the Sauna Research Institute rebranded as the Sauna Research Foundation (www.saunaresearch.org), reflecting its role as the coordinating and funding body the field has lacked. The Foundation's board comprises Glenn Auerbach, founder of SaunaTimes.com and the Sauna Talk podcast; Earric Lee, PhD; Hans Hägglund, MD, PhD; and Jon Sabes, JD, founder and chief executive of Longevity Financial Partners. Ashley Mason, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, serves as its Scientific Advisor.

"We changed the name because the mission changed. An institute studies; a foundation convenes and funds. What the field needs now is not another paper — it needs a common language, shared standards, and capital directed to the researchers who meet it. Oslo is where that all begins."
— Jon Sabes, Board Member, Sauna Research Foundation

At the International Sauna Congress
The symposium runs immediately ahead of the International Sauna Congress in Oslo, held 24–26 September 2026 and hosted by the Norwegian Sauna Association. SRF will address Congress members in the panel discussion "The Future of Sauna Research" on Friday, 25 September 2026 at 16:00, with board members Hans Hägglund and Jon Sabes joined by Scientific Advisor Ashley Mason. The panel examines how to build a coherent, well-supported field through research networks, shared methods, and collaboration. The Congress is convened every four years by the International Sauna Association, the global federation of national sauna societies founded in 1958.

Support
The 1st International Heat Therapy Research Symposium is made possible through the generous support of The Well and Longevity Financial Partners.

About the Sauna Research Foundation
The Sauna Research Foundation (SRF) is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to advancing scientific understanding and public awareness of the health benefits of heat therapy and sauna bathing. Founded in 2020, the Sauna Research Foundation organizes, sponsors, and supports research and public education on the effects of heat therapy and sauna bathing on cardiovascular function, mental health, metabolic health, and overall well-being. SRF works to direct philanthropic, institutional, and industry capital toward research that meets shared scientific standards, and to serve as the coordinating body for the field. More information is available at www.saunaresearch.org.

Media Contact

Sauna Research Foundation
Glenn Auerbach, Board Member
(612) 801-7126
[email protected]
www.saunaresearch.org
Press kit and logo assets available at: www.saunaresearch.org 

SOURCE Sauna Research Foundation