Funding secured to assess impact of passive smoking on dementia

The University of Wolverhampton has secured funding to carry out research on the impact of passive smoking on dementia.

Professor Ruoling Chen from the University’s Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, has been awarded a prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship by Horizon 2020 – a European Union framework programme for research and innovation.

£153,976 funding has been secured for research into ‘Impacts of Environmental Tobacco Smoke on Incidence and Outcomes of Dementia’.

Professor Chen has a PhD from the University of Aberdeen after studying medicine.  He joined the University of Wolverhampton in 2009 as a Reader in Public Health and Epidemiology, focusing on chronic disease etiology and care research and teaching global health. 

He has established a large-scale population-based study of dementia and other chronic diseases in older people in six provinces in China.

He said:  “Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) remains prevalent globally but its association with dementia is unclear.  This research project aims to investigate the impacts of ETS on dementia risk and outcomes, and toexamine levels and determinants of ETS exposure post-dementia.

“We will be looking closely at a sample of people identified locally as well as analysing data from a previous health survey in China.  The project will strengthen a long-term collaboration between China and European Union partners whilst at the same time provide Europe with new data to prevent dementia and reduce ETS.”

The research project will be run in partnership with Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and involve a case-control study in the UK with 150 old people aged 75 with newly diagnosed dementia, 150 already diagnosed with dementia and 150 without dementia.

ENDS

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Date Issued: 6th June 2017