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Investigating the links between cardiometabolic risk factors and dementia in South Asians

Code: BC-DTP_2026_51

Title: Investigating the links between cardiometabolic risk factors and dementia in South Asians

Primary Supervisor: Petroula Proitsi

Email: p.proitsi@qmul.ac.uk

Institute: Wolfson Institute of Population Health

Secondary Supervisor: Charles Marshall

Email: charles.marshall@qmul.ac.uk

Institute: Wolfson Institute of Population Health

Lay Summary:

Dementia is a major cause of disability and death worldwide. People of South Asian heritage, including many communities in East London, have a higher risk of dementia than White Europeans. They also have higher rates of as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease – known as cardiometabolic factors- often starting at a younger age. These conditions are known to increase dementia risk in White European populations, but we do not yet know if they affect dementia risk in the same way in South Asian communities. We also do not fully understand how social and economic circumstances (e.g education and deprivation) and genetic differences influence these links, or what biological changes in the body might connect poor cardiometabolic health to brain health. This gap in knowledge limits our ability to design effective and fair dementia prevention strategies.

This PhD project will use two large UK studies: Genes & Health (British Bangladeshi and British Pakistani adults) and South Asian participants in UK Biobank. Using linked health records, genetic information, and—where available—blood test measures and brain scans, the project will examine how cardiometabolic risk factors are related to dementia in South Asians. It will also explore whether these links differ according to social and economic, and genetic background, and identify biological processes (e.g. blood vessel damage or inflammation) that explain why these conditions affect the brain. These findings will help improve understanding of dementia risk in South Asians and support earlier, more equitable, targeted prevention strategies.

Aims: 

To investigate the role of cardiometabolic risk factors in dementia in South Asians.

  1. Investigate the links between cardiometabolic risk factors and dementia in South Asians, and determine how socioeconomic factors shape these relationships.
  2. Elucidate genetic contributions to cardiometabolic–dementia links in South Asians.
  3. Characterise the molecular pathways that link genetic and cardiometabolic risk to dementia in South Asians.

References

  1. Livingston G, Huntley J, Liu KY, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. Lancet 2024; 404(10452): 572-628.
  2. Mukadam N, Marston L, Lewis G, et al. South Asian, Black and White ethnicity and the effect of potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia: A study in English electronic health records. PLoS One 2023; 18(10): e0289893.
  3. Bothongo PLK, Jitlal M, Parry E, et al. Dementia risk in a diverse population: A single-region nested case-control study in the East End of London. Lancet Reg Health Eur 2022; 15: 100321.
  4. Jacobs BM, Chandra A, Mandal A, et al. The contribution of Apoliproprotein E genetic variation to dementia risk in British South Asians. medRxiv 2025: 2025.09.04.25334903.
  5. Hodgson S, Williamson A, Bigossi M, et al. Genetic basis of early onset and progression of type 2 diabetes in South Asians. Nature Medicine 2025; 31(1): 323-31.
  6. Liu Y, Abdolkarimi D, Gilchrist L, et al. Circulating Metabolites are Linked to Dementia and Brain Imaging Phenotypes, and Mediate Modifiable Risk Pathways. medRxiv 2025: 2025.10.31.25339240.
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