Previous studies have shown that Stat4 plays a critical role in HFD-C diet induced cardiovascular inflammation17,18, supporting the hypothesis that Stat4 also acts via vascular inflammation in the brain to accelerate HFD-C induced impairments in synaptic plasticity that underlie associated cognitive impairments, and may play an important role in the heightened risk of AD in type 2 diabetes. The gene discussed is STAT4; the disease is type 2 diabetes mellitus.