How air pollution may drive racial and ethnic differences in Alzheimer's and related dementias
Official title: The contribution of air pollution to racial and ethnic disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias: An application of causal inference methods
Funded at University of California at Davis · NIH-11470647 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether higher air pollution exposure helps explain why Mexican American older adults have more Alzheimer's and related dementias than non-Hispanic White older adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California at Davis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Davis, United States) |
| Project start | April 15, 2023 |
| Project end | February 28, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $248,999 |
| NIH project number | 4R00AG081453-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11470647 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Findings are most relevant to older adults, especially Mexican American and non-Hispanic White individuals who live or lived in areas with varying levels of air pollution.
✕Less likely to help
People whose dementia risk is driven mainly by non-environmental factors (for example, rare genetic diseases) or much younger individuals may not see direct benefit from these results.
What this research studies
Researchers will combine and harmonize information from two long-term U.S. studies of older adults to compare dementia outcomes and air pollution exposure between Mexican American and non-Hispanic White participants. They will link participants' residential locations to air quality data and use modern causal inference statistics to estimate how much pollution contributes to the gap in dementia risk. The team will also model how changes in air quality regulations might alter future dementia risk across groups. This work uses existing medical records and location data rather than enrolling people in a new intervention.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could motivate cleaner-air policies that reduce dementia risk and narrow racial/ethnic gaps in brain health.
How similar studies have gone: Prior epidemiologic studies have linked air pollution to higher dementia risk, but using combined cohorts and causal methods to quantify its contribution to racial/ethnic disparities is a new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California at Davis
Davis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ilango, Sindana Devayani — University of California at Davis
- Study coordinator: Ilango, Sindana Devayani
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.