Approved Research

The association between environmental exposure and human health: evidence from blood biochemistry, genetic and brain image

Lay summary

This project aims to untangle the complex relationship between environmental factors and human health. More specifically, we wish to explore the association between air pollution and neurodegeneration. As the ageing process continues for the developed countries, neurodegeneration, featured by Alzheimer's disease, is attracting people's attention. Many efforts have been made to identify the determinants of Alzheimer's diseases. One hypothesis has been made to associate Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases to air pollution, via biological pathways including neuroinflammation. Me and other researchers have published studies that have established statistical connections between air pollution exposure and several neurodegenerative diseases. However, the underlying biological mechanism linking air pollution with neurodegeneration remains unknown.

Now, with the help of UKBiobank, our group will (1) explore the statistical association between air pollution exposure with neurodegenerative disease; (2) use modulation analysis to explore possible gene-environment interaction and use mediation analysis to shed light on the possible biological pathways. In addition to UKbiobank and associated epidemiological analysis, we will also conduct animal study to further validate what we will find in the epidemiological studies.

This project is expected to last 12 months, and bring several social impacts: (1) it will deepens our understanding about the biological mechanisms and environmental determinants of neurogenerative disease; (2) this study will remind us the hidden and previously ignored cost of air pollution, and the policy implication of this study will push forward more stringent environmental policies in different countries.