BP Offers $10 Million to NIH for Gulf Health Research

(U.S. Coast Guard, Courtesy X Prize Foundation)

The oil producer BP said today it is providing $10 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under its Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) to support a study of potential public health issues relating to the Gulf oil spill and other spill-related health research. The GRI is a 10-year, $500 million independent research program established by BP to better understand and mitigate the environmental and potential health effects of the Gulf spill.

BP says it provided NIH the funds to meet research priorities identified at the Institute of Medicine workshop commissioned by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and summarized in the report “Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health,” released on 10 August 2010. The funding is expected to support the immediate needs of researchers, including Gulf Coast academic institutions and local and state agencies, in understanding potential acute and long-term health impacts of exposures to oil, dispersed oil, and dispersants.

NIH is expected to make decisions on the funding awards with input from Gulf state academic institutions and state and local officials. All project proposals will be peer reviewed by appropriate experts, and data, measurement information, and findings from NIH-funded studies will be made fully and openly available in accordance with standard practice applicable to this type of research.