{"684959":{"#nid":"684959","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Links in Air Pollution and Dementia","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EScientists at Georgia Tech have teamed up with researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Columbia University to better understand how certain types of air pollution increase the risk of developing dementia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ETheir findings, published this month in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.adu4132\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, help explain how small particle pollution \u2014 think industrial emissions and car exhaust, wildfires and burning wood for heat and cooking \u2014 can lead to Lewy body dementia, a devastating disease that causes toxic clumps of protein to destroy nerve cells in the brain.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u0022Epidemiological studies have suggested a strong link between air pollution and dementia, but what sets this study apart is that we also provide a convincing biological mechanism,\u201d says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/liu-pengfei-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPengfei Liu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and one of the study\u2019s co-authors. \u201cThis collaborative work shows that fine particulate matter from different geographic regions consistently triggers a specific stain of misfolded protein that drives Lewy body dementia.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe work has \u201cprofound implications\u201d for helping scientists and policy makers better understand measures to prevent this type of dementia, which is among the most common forms of the disease and affects millions of people around the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAlong with Liu, the research team from Georgia Tech includes\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rweber.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERodney Weber\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EMinhan Park\u003C\/strong\u003E, a postdoctoral research fellow co-advised by Liu and Weber;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EBin Bai\u003C\/strong\u003E, a graduate student in Liu\u2019s lab; and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EMa Cristine Faye Denna\u003C\/strong\u003E, a graduate student in Weber\u2019s lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cFiguring out how exposure to atmospheric aerosols might be linked to dementia, and what mechanisms are involved, is a complex and challenging problem \u2014\u0026nbsp;and as this study shows, it takes a large team with many different areas of expertise,\u201d Weber adds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELearn more:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.adu4132\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E: Lewy body dementia promotion by air pollutants\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/news\/newsroom\/news-releases\/2025\/09\/researchers-reveal-potential-molecular-link-between-air-pollutants-and-increased-risk-of-lewy-body-dementia\u0022\u003EJohns Hopkins Medicine newsroom\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.publichealth.columbia.edu\/news\/potential-molecular-link-between-air-pollutants-increased-risk-lewy-body-dementia-revealed\u0022\u003EColumbia University newsroom\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/sep\/04\/fine-particulate-air-pollution-trigger-forms-dementia-study-lewy-body\u0022\u003EPress: \u003Cem\u003EThe Guardian\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists at Georgia Tech have teamed up with researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Columbia University to better understand how certain types of air pollution increase the risk of developing dementia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists team up to better understand how certain types of air pollution increase the risk of developing dementia.\u00a0"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2025-09-16 21:26:52","changed_gmt":"2025-12-30 19:50:28","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678035":{"id":"678035","type":"image","title":"Car exhaust (Adobe: elcovalana)","body":null,"created":"1758058019","gmt_created":"2025-09-16 21:26:59","changed":"1758058019","gmt_changed":"2025-09-16 21:26:59","alt":"Car exhaust (Adobe: elcovalana)","file":{"fid":"262013","name":"Car-exhaust---elcovalana.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/16\/Car-exhaust---elcovalana.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/16\/Car-exhaust---elcovalana.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":952683,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/09\/16\/Car-exhaust---elcovalana.jpeg?itok=UiPeGoBL"}}},"media_ids":["678035"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"},{"id":"1280","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"61541","name":"Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"184361","name":"brain health"},{"id":"5076","name":"dementia"},{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDirector of Communications\u003Cbr\u003ECollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}