{"id":210067,"date":"2022-04-08T15:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T19:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=210067"},"modified":"2023-11-09T18:55:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T23:55:17","slug":"professor-receives-700k-nih-grant-to-examine-link-between-green-space-and-dementias","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/professor-receives-700k-nih-grant-to-examine-link-between-green-space-and-dementias\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Receives $700K NIH Grant to Examine Link between Green Space and Dementias"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-right has-primary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-755x503.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/04\/greenspace-original-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner has-opacity-70\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">alzheimer\u2019s\/dementia<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProfessor Receives $700K NIH Grant to Examine Link between Green Space and Dementias\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Marcia Pescador Jimenez, assistant professor of epidemiology, will study how exposure to trees, grass, and other greenery may affect hypertension and other risk factors for Alzheimer&#8217;s disease and related dementias. <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar js-block-editorial-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">April 8, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Physical inactivity, depression, and hypertension are all risk factors for Alzheimer\u2019s disease and related dementias (ADRD), which affect more than 6 million older adults in the US and are expected to affect at least 13 million people by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Current research suggests that exposure to green space\u2014i.e. trees, plants, grass, and other greenery\u2014may produce mental health benefits that can mitigate these risk factors and possibly lower the risk of ADRD among older adults. But few studies have produced solid evidence of a direct link between green space and ADRD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, thanks to a new grant from the National Institute on Aging, a School of Public Health researcher aims to close this gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/marcia-pescador-jimenez\/\">Marcia Pescador Jimenez<\/a>, assistant professor of epidemiology, has received a three-year $738,310 grant from NIH and NIA to investigate the direct and indirect effects of green space on neurodegenerative diseases. Pescador Jimenez <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/professor-studies-impact-of-green-space-on-health\/\">joined SPH last September<\/a> from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to continue pursuing her research interests in urban environmental influences on cardiovascular health, neurodegenerative diseases, and racial disparities in health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy goal with this project is to identify specific features of green space and the urban environment that will shed light on pathways to Alzheimer\u2019s Disease and related dementias, cognitive decline, physical activity, depression, and hypertension,\u201d says Pescador Jimenez, who is principal investigator of the three-year study. \u201cWith the long-term goal of reducing the risk of ADRD, this project will use state-of-the-art methods to better measure geographic determinants of ADRD, as well as the mechanisms through which they affect health and health disparities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most data measures of green space are limited by satellite images and cannot identify specific features of greenery that may affect health. By applying deep learning algorithms to nationwide Google Street View images from 2007 to 2018, Pescador Jimenez will be able to capture precise, ground-view measures of green space exposure that will reveal any causal links between green space and the noted health conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDeep learning algorithms have enabled us to predict for instance, whether a given pixel in any image in any location is a tree, grass, a flower with 80 to 90-percent accuracy,\u201d she says. \u201cDeep learning combined with Google Street View images provide novel exposure assessments of the geographic context from a ground-based view as participants experience it. Thus, we can get measure for instance, the percentage of trees that a person sees outside their house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pescador Jimenez hopes her findings will inform urban public health interventions that support healthy aging and reduce racial disparities, as well as advance research on deep learning and objective measurements of the urban environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2021\/07\/Marcia-Pescador-Jimenez-600x362-1.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>faculty<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/professor-studies-impact-of-green-space-on-health\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Professor Studies Impact of Green Space on Health<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">July 16, 2021<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Physical inactivity, depression, and hypertension are all risk factors for Alzheimer\u2019s disease and related dementias (ADRD), which affect more than 6 million older adults in the US and are expected to affect at least 13 million people by 2050. Current research suggests that exposure to green space\u2014i.e. trees, plants, grass, and other greenery\u2014may produce mental [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":210073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"alzheimer\u2019s\/dementia","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1708,1973,3485,2261,2070,2178,3891,1871,3887],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3529,3530,3531,3540],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[3718],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/210067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210067"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/210067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210217,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/210067\/revisions\/210217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210067"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=210067"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=210067"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=210067"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=210067"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=210067"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=210067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}