Research Background:
Neurological disorders-including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, vascular dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and selected neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions-represent major contributors to disability, mortality, and societal burden. These disorders arise from complex interactions among neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, protein misfolding, mitochondrial impairment, vascular pathology, metabolic dysregulation, and immune imbalance. Established risk factors such as aging, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, smoking, and physical inactivity interact with genetic susceptibility, molecular perturbations, environmental exposures, and behavioral factors to shape individual trajectories of neurodegeneration and neurological decline.
Objectives:
1.Identify genetic variants and circulating multi-omics biomarkers associated with onset, progression, and prognosis of major neurological disorders.
2.Integrate genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and neuroimaging-derived phenotypes to uncover key biological pathways and population level heterogeneity.
3.Evaluate the causal impact of modifiable lifestyle and environmental exposures on neurological disease risk and cognitive decline.
Scientific Rationale:
Neurological disorders emerge from intertwined biological processes-neuroinflammation, synaptic and neuronal dysfunction, vascular injury, metabolic and mitochondrial dysregulation-modulated by genetic and environmental factors. Multi-omics and imaging integration enables detection of early molecular and structural brain changes, improves risk stratification beyond traditional factors, and identifies modifiable pathways for prevention. Leveraging the multidimensional UK Biobank dataset, this project will develop predictive models, infer causal mechanisms, and identify intervention targets to support precision neurology and public health strategies aimed at reducing the burden of neurological diseases.