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Project goals
This five-year project, jointly funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), has the primary goal of understanding the effect of air pollution on Alzheimer's disease and the aging brain, including molecular and structural pathophysiologies, cognitive decline and dementia risk.
The study will leverage the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) cohort data, including extensive genetic data, decades of medication histories and participant residential histories. The ACT cohort data will be combined with spatially and temporally resolved estimates of ambient concentrations of air pollution (PM2.5, O3, NOx, NO2, CO) at ACT participant residences.
We will deploy new, low-cost air monitors in the Puget Sound area and use these new data to refine our models, while leveraging over 40 years of existing ambient air pollution monitoring data in the greater Puget Sound area.
PROJECT TIMELINE
Below is a timeline of our expected study activities over the next five years.
Project collaborators
The study is a collaboration between the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and the University of Washington. The study participants enrolled in the ACT cohort have been closely followed for decades by Kaiser. The cohort consists of over 5,400 participants with autopsies having been completed for over 740 participants.
Below is an illustration of the various types of information that have been collected from ACT cohort participants. Researchers from different specialties have leveraged the ACT cohort data to conduct research examining variables such as cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity, various medication uses, nutrition and blood vessels. To learn more about the ACT cohort, please visit the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.
Project outcomes
Project results will be shared with the public through a dedicated website. Puget Sound residents can view daily concentration data for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen oxides, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide through the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency website.
Project updates
OCTOBER 2018
As of October 2018, a real-time visualization of our low-cost air monitoring data has been launched. Please visit our our dashboard to view your neighborhood-level air pollutant data and find tips to reduce your exposure to air pollutants. You can also report air events, such as local fires, smoke, smells, etc. at our new dashboard. Click here!
SEPTEMBER 2018
As of September 2018, we have collected air pollution data in about 100 locations in the Puget Sound region. Please see our latest map illustrating the locations we have monitored through 2018. These locations include community volunteers (aqua stars), CAMPS volunteers (pink stars), and ACT participant (yellow stars) and our fixed monitors that are co-located with Puget Sound Clean Air Agency monitors (white circles).
FEBRUARY 2018
We will be collecting air pollution data in about 100 sites throughout the Puget Sound region. Monitors will be out in the field for two months at a time in different seasons, to measure the variability of pollutants in different seasons.
The photograph to the left shows one of the air pollution monitors. The monitor needs to be located outdoors in a secure location such as a backyard, behind a fence, on a roof, or on a balcony. The monitor needs to be plugged in to operate. We will deliver and pick up the equipment. Its measurements will be transferred over a cellular network to the University of Washington.
If you would like to volunteer, please fill out this survey.
DECEMBER 2017
As of December 2017, we have collected air pollution data in about 30 locations in the Puget Sound region. Please see our latest map illustrating the locations we have monitored during 2017 (in pink stars) and our fixed monitors that are co-located with Puget Sound Clean Air Agency monitors (in yellow stars).
SEPTEMBER 2017
As of September 2017, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has approved funding to expand and enhance the exposure assessment activities of the study by incorporating community-based participatory research (CBPR) in the Puget Sound region. If you would like to learn more about this new study, please visit Community Air Monitoring in Puget Sound (CAMPS).
Contact Us
RESEARCH TEAM
Gail Li, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
University of Washington
(206) 764-2485
gli@u.washington.edu
Lianne Sheppard, PhD
Principal Investigator
University of Washington
206-616-2722
sheppard@uw.edu
Edmund Seto, PhD
Co-Investigator
University of Washington
206-543-1475
eseto@uw.edu
Amanda Gassett, MS
Research Scientist / Project Manager
University of Washington
206-897-1990
agassett@uw.edu
Jennifer Macuiba
Research Project Manager
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
206-287-2731
macuiba.j@ghc.org
Media and Resources
Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Research: The Ins and Outs
Group Health and UW get $13 million to study aging and the brain