Research Projects

Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center

As an extension to the Gateway to Global Aging Study, Dr. Adar is leading the new NIA-funded Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center along with Drs. Jinkook Lee and David Knapp of the University of Southern California. This project aims to serve as a centralized hub for accessing, harmonizing, linking, and sharing data for dementia researchers across disciplines, with a focus on the following six key domains: (1) climate, (2) physical environment, (3) social environment, (4) policy environment, (5) community services environment, and (6) life experiences.

Gateway to Global Aging: Environmental Risk Factors for Late-Life Cognition and Dementia Around the World 

As an extension to the EPOCH Study, Dr. Adar is investigating the health impacts of the environmental exposome including air pollution from various emission sources, greenspace, and extreme weather in seven nationally-representative, longitudinal studies of aging. This research is in collaboration with numerous researchers including scientists at the University of Southern California, University of Pennslyvania, University of California at Berkeley, University of British Columbia, University of Chile, University College of London, Trinity College Dublin, and Queen's University in Belfast. 

Environmental Predictors of Cognitive Health and aging (EPOCH) Study 

In this cross-disciplinary study. we are investigating the associations between long-term exposures to air pollution and healthy aging in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative cohort.  We specifically focus on cognitive and mobility declines, dementia and disability, as well as health care costs related to lost independence.

Air Pollution as a Modifiable Risk Factor of Late-Life Cognition and Dementia in India 

In this project, Dr. Adar is leading the investigation of air pollution as a modifiable risk factors of cognitive decline and dementia in the nationally-representative, Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). She is conducting this research in collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan School Institute for Social Research, University of Southern California, Harvard School of Public Health, University of Exeter, and the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS). 

MI CARES

This collaborative study between the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Rogel Cancer Center researchers will describe and quantify the impact of known and suspected environmental exposures on cancer risk throughout a multi-racial population in Michigan. 

Air Pollution, Noise, Cognitive Aging, and Neuropathology 

In collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Weuve at Boston University and others, Dr. Adar is investigating the impacts of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and noise on the rate of cognitive decline, risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, MRI-based markers of cerebrovascular disease and structural integrity, and olfaction. 

Landscapes of Population Health and Population Health in Mid-Life

These two projects, led by researchers at UM Institute for Social Research, leverage the expertise of historians, sociologists, psychologists, epidemiologists, and statisticians to study population health. One project examines how neighborhood trajectories and environments influence epigenomics and population health and the other investigates how these trajectories influence access and exposures that drive health opportunities, morbidity, and mortality within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). 

Recently Completed Projects

Air Pollution as a Risk Factor for ALS

In collaboration with Drs. Eva Feldman and Stephen Goutman at the Michigan Medicine, Drs. Adar and Pedde are investigating the impacts of long-term exposure to air pollution on the severity and progression of ALS. 

Evaluating the Impacts of Clean Air Technologies and Fuels on School Bus Riders

This work extends Dr. Adar's previous findings, which demonstrated that clean air technologies and fuels improve the respiratory health of children, especially asthmatic children, riding buses to school. Through this new work we have tested in air inside of diesel and electric vehicles and are examining the benefits of a bus replacement program on educational and health outcomes.

Using Satellite Images to Predict Coarse Particulate Matter Levels to Study Health Impacts

In this project, we are collaborating with Dr. Itai Kloog at Ben Gurion University to predict coarse particulate matter exposures at the homes of participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. We will then investigate associations with subclinical measures of respiratory and cardiovascular health. (This work was a component of Meredith Pedde's Ph.D. dissertation research.) 

Community Noise in a Large US City as a Modifiable Risk Factor for:

Late-Life Cognition and Mobility: We used a detailed spatial regression model constructed using an intensive monitoring campaign in Chicago to investigate associations between long-term exposures to community noise and cognition, dementia, mobility, and frailty in a prospective cohort of seniors. All associations were adjusted for air pollution levels.

High Blood Pressure and Hypertension:  We studied the association of long-term exposures to community noise on blood pressure in two prospective cohorts of seniors in Chicago, IL.  These associations were investigated independent of air pollution levels.

Traffic-Generated Air Pollution in Near Road Communities 

This project used detailed spatiotemporal traffic data to estimate exposures to traffic-generated air pollution in near road communities and assesses the impacts of short-term fluctuations in these exposures on mortality. We also examined different transportation intervention strategies to reduce exposures to traffic-generated pollution and improve health.  (This work was the basis of Paola Filigrana's Ph.D. dissertation.) 

Reducing Air Pollution in a Detroit Intervention Study (RAPIDS)

This randomized controlled trial explores indoor filtration as an inexpensive mechanism to reduce exposures and improve cardiovascular health among seniors exposed to high traffic-related and industrial air pollution. Early results show lower indoor and personal exposures to pollutants and lower blood pressure levels with filtration.