Project description
The link between environmental pollutants and Alzheimer’s disease
Human populations are exposed to harmful chemical pollutants found in the environment. Some of them may have negative effects on brain health, but we still do not fully understand how or when they affect us. These chemicals may also contribute to dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is of particular concern. With this in mind, the EU-funded EXPOSIGNALZ project aims to explore how certain pollutants affect brain health and contribute to AD. By combining laboratory experiments and population studies, the project will identify harmful chemicals and understand how they influence brain ageing. The goal is to find new ways to prevent or delay the onset of AD.
Objective
Human populations are impregnated by various types of chemical pollutants reported as “hazardous waste” present in the environment. Certain pollutants have adverse effects on brain, but the underlying mechanisms and time-window exposures are still unknown, as well as their contribution on dementia, the 7th leading cause of death. EXPOSIGNALZ project aims to delineate the impact of a selection of environmental pollutants on brain health throughout life and their role in dementia especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD) representing about 70% of dementia cases. Through interdisciplinary approaches, integrating experimental and epidemiological studies, our objectives are to: 1) Identify environmental pollutants likely to have neurotoxic effects and pro-amyloidogenic properties predictive of a neurodegenerative trajectory related to AD using in vitro screening models; 2) Characterize pollutant signatures associated with brain aging and AD in biological matrices of 4 European population-based cohorts of various age groups; 3) Understand the mechanisms of action of pollutants identified in the in vitro screenings and those found in biological signatures, using AD-iPSC and AD preclinical models; 4) Explore the impact of pollutants on early neurodevelopment as a factor of susceptibility for later neurodegenerative diseases using brain organoids and gestational contamination models and 5) Disseminate knowledge to policy makers, to the relevant stakeholders and general public in order to define guidelines for disease prevention and take actions for population’s health. The project, which aims to identify chemical pollutants as new risk factors for dementia as well as new pollutant-associated biomarkers, could contribute to: (i) reduce or delay the incidence of AD, and thus reduce the economic and social burden; and (ii) allow an earlier diagnosis of AD combined with new disease modifying treatments to delay the entrance of patients in the more severe stages of the pathology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.2.1 - Health
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
HORIZON.2.1.1 - Health throughout the Life Course
See all projects funded under this programme -
HORIZON.2.1.2 - Environmental and Social Health Determinants
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-HLTH-2024-ENVHLTH-02-two-stage
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75654 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.