Santiago Exposome Symposium:
Integrating Environmental Exposures into Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
25-27 September 2025
Location: Club Manquehue, Avda. Vitacura 5841, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile
All times are local Santiago time (DST).
Day #1 – Thursday 25 September 2025
Pre-Symposium Concurrent Morning Workshops
These sessions are designed to provide an in-depth, interactive learning experience ahead of our main symposium. Following instructional presentations, participants will have the opportunity to engage with experts and participate in discussions that will set the stage for the symposium. Since these workshops are running concurrently, participants should register for the session that best aligns with their interests.
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Workshop A: Untargeted Exposomics for AD/ADRD Research
Dinesh Barupal, PhD, Associate Professor, Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
Lauren Petrick, PhD, Professor, Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
This workshop will introduce researchers to the transformative potential of untargeted exposomics in understanding environmental contributions to Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Untargeted exposomics goes beyond traditional methods that target specific exposures, such as lead or BPA, by utilizing advanced analytical techniques, such as high-resolution mass spectrometry to detect a broad spectrum of environmental chemicals, biological agents, and endogenous metabolic changes. Dr. Dinesh Barupal will share examples highlighting the success of untargeted exposomics in biobank studies, showcasing the ability to reveal previously unrecognized exposure-disease relationships. Dr. Lauren Petrick will demonstrate how novel biospecimen collection and analysis methods can generate new data, providing actionable insights for both existing and future cohort studies. Participants will gain practical knowledge on integrating untargeted exposomics into their research, including strategies for leveraging existing samples and designing studies that incorporate cutting-edge collection and analytical techniques.
OR
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Workshop B: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Environmental Exposures
Itai Kloog, PhD, Professor, Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
Iván Gutiérrez Avila, PhD, Instructor, Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
Mike He, PhD, Instructor, Department of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
This workshop will introduce GIS concepts and their application in exposomic research studies, with a focus on temperature and air pollution. Dr. Itai Kloog will focus on introducing key concepts in GIS including projections, working with spatial data, base mapping concept, geocoding, visualization and thematic mapping. He will also give some examples from recent studies applying these tools in environmental epidemiology. Dr. Iván Gutiérrez Avila will demonstrate examples of real-life GIS use in exposure assessment studies and help participants review some hands-on exercises. Participants will gain insights through case studies on leveraging GIS tools for spatial analysis in exposure assessment studies, emphasizing the visualization and interpretation of environmental data.
11:00 am
Symposium Check-in begins
11:45 am
Welcome
Ana (Anita) Pereira, MD, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor, Public Nutrition Unit, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile
Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH, Ethel H Wise Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine, and Co-Director, Institute for Exposomic Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
12:00 pm
Expanding the Exposome Framework: A View from Public Health
Martha M. (Mara) Téllez Rojo, MSc, DSc, Professor, National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Mexico
12:30 pm
Alzheimer’s Disease Risk, Longevity & Environment
R. Sean Morrison, MD, FAAHPM, Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
1:00 pm
Lunch
1:50 pm
AD/ADRD and Precision Environmental Health
Richard Kwok, PhD, Program Director, Population Studies and Genetics Branch, Division of Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, USA
2:20 pm
Impact of Nutrition on Aging: Lessons from Animal Models and Human Studies
Christian González-Billault, PhD, Director of the Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO) and Vice President for Research and Development, University of Chile
2:50 pm
The Peru Air Quality Monitoring Network: a Foundation for Environmental Epidemiological Research
Andrés G. (Willy) Lescano, PhD, MHS, MHS, Associate Professor and Director of Clima (Latin American Center of Excellence in Climate Change and Health), School of Public Health and Administration, Cayetano Heredia University, Peru
3:20 pm
Break
3:40 pm
Preliminary Findings and Opportunities for Studies of Pollution in the USA, Brazil, and Mexico
David A Bennett, MD, Director, Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Robert C. Borwell Professor of Neurological Sciences, Rush University, USA
4:10 pm
Novel Exposome Biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Manish Arora, BDS, MPH, PhD, Edith J. Baerwald Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Co-Founder and CEO, LinusBio, USA
4:40 pm
The Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center: Science-Ready Tools and Data on the External Exposome for ADRD Research
Dany Doiron, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, University of Montreal
5:10 – 7:00 pm
Networking Reception
Day #2 – Friday 26 September 2025
9:00 am
Welcome
R. Sean Morrison, MD, FAAHPM, Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
9:05 am
Day #2 Keynote Address: Crafting the Strategy for the Global Human Exposome Initiative
Rick Woychik, PhD, Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program, USA
9:35 am
Developmental Origins of Alzheimer’s Disease
Robert O. Wright, MD, MPH, Ethel H Wise Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine, and Co-Director, Institute for Exposomic Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
10:05 am
Better Nutrition for Long-Term Health
Camila Corvalán, MD, MPH, PhD, Professor, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile
10:35 am
Break
11:00 am
Multimodal Exposomes in Accelerated Aging Clocks and Dementia
Agustín Ibañez, PhD, Full Professor and Director, Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI, Chile) and Director of Global Research, Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), Trinity College Dublin
11:30 am
Exploring and Comparing Occupational and Pollution Exposures among Two Districts of Mexico City, and their Association with Cognitive Impairment: Preliminary Findings
Ana Luisa Sosa-Ortiz, PhD, Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico and Senior Medical Sciences Researcher, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico
12:00 pm
Setting Up an Infrastructural Landscape and Opening an Access to Services for Human Exposome Research
Jana Klánová, PhD, Professor of Environmental Chemistry, Masaryk University, Director of RECETOX Centre and EIRENE Research Infrastructure, Czech Republic
12:30 pm
Group Photo
12:40 pm
Poster Session and Lunch
2:20 pm
Metabolic Signatures for Aging and ADRD Phenotypes
Dinesh Barupal, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
2:50 pm
Exposome and Aging in a Changing Environment – Challenges and Opportunities for Health Surveillance in Brazil
Rafael Buralli, MSc, PhD, Professor, Department of Policy, Management and Health, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, Brazil
3:20 pm
Integrating Early Life Exposures into Alzheimer’s Research
Ana (Anita) Pereira, MD, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor, Public Nutrition Unit, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile
3:50 pm
Lifecourse Sleep and the Aging Brain: Uncovering Prodromal Markers and Risk Factors with Big Data
Yue Leng, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, USA
4:20 pm
Presentations end.
4:30 pm
Speakers depart by bus for dinner.
Free evening for attendees.
Day #3 – Saturday 27 September 2025
9:00 am
Welcome
Ana (Anita) Pereira, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Public Nutrition Unit, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile
9:05 am
New Approaches for Modeling Extreme Weather: Integrating Air Pollution, Temperature and the Built Environment
Itai Kloog, PhD, Professor, Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
9:35 am
Network of Exposomics in the US (NEXUS): Developing High-dimensional Approaches to Study the Environmental Determinants of Aging Phenotypes and Disease
Chirag Patel, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, USA
10:05 am
Drought and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Results from the Mexican Health and Aging Study
Joseph Saenz, PhD, Assistant Professor, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Center for Innovation in Healthy and Resilient Aging, Arizona State University, USA
10:35 am
Break
11:00 am
Exposure to Chemical Compounds in Adults from the Maule Cohort (MAUCO)
Sandra Cortés, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
12:00 pm
Poster Awards
12:45 pm – 3:00 pm
Collaboration Meeting