Penn Med researchers receive $11 million grant to study how chemical exposure impacts dementia risk

Perelman School of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with Northwestern University, University of California San Francisco, and Emory University, received an $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to support research on how chemical exposures may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Using data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, which began in 1983, researchers will gather 35 years of tests and data that follow the participants’ health history from an average age of 25 to 60. The team will analyze nearly four decades of blood and urine test data to examine potential links between chemical levels in these samples and cognitive function, as assessed through brain scans and cognitive tests, according to the Oct. 30 Penn Med announcement.

By pinpointing specific chemicals, the study aims to identify potential contributors to neurological disorders. It will conduct evaluations on ​​levels of pesticides, metals, polychlorinated biphenyls — chemicals previously used in paper, glues, plastics, and electrical transformers — in the blood and urine samples. It will also test levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, which were once commonly used in flame retardant materials in furniture, rugs, and other items.

The researchers will then compare findings with results from cognitive test data and MRI tests to investigate any correlation between levels of chemicals and cognitive abilities. 

“If there’s an environmental link, we could encourage reduction of environmental exposures in early and mid-life, decades before cognitive and other dementia symptoms,” Aimin Chen, the study’s principal investigator and professor of epidemiology at Penn, said in the announcement.

From these studies, the researchers hope to evaluate how social determinants of health, such as education and socioeconomic status, can contribute to risk of neurological diseases. 

“We hope to give a clearer picture of how exposures may not be equal among different groups and could be fueling differences in outcomes among people with Alzheimer’s and dementia,” Professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern and a long-term CARDIA investigator Lifang Hou said.