Identifying Environmental Exposures Linked to ALS Risk in Veterans
Official title: RFA-TS-24-010: Persistent Environmental Toxicants in Veteran CNS Tissue: Identifying Exposures Determining Higher ALS Risk
Funded at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic · NIH-11378879 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This grant looks at why US veterans have a higher risk of ALS by studying lasting environmental toxicants in veterans’ CNS tissue.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lebanon, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2024 |
| Project end | September 29, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $559,999 |
| NIH project number | 5R01TS000331-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11378879 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Veterans who have served in eras or locations with high exposure potential and provide consent for tissue-based analyses.
✕Less likely to help
Non-veterans or veterans without relevant exposure histories may not benefit directly.
What this research studies
The research team will examine brain and spinal tissue from veterans to identify persistent toxicants that may be connected to ALS risk. They will focus on exposure sources common to military service, like burn pits, engine exhaust, firing ranges, and contaminated bases, and measure how these chemicals accumulate in CNS tissue. The goal is to link specific environmental exposures to ALS risk patterns in veterans, using tissue analyses guided by prior data. Findings could point to preventable exposures and inform future studies or protective measures for veterans.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Identifying harmful exposures could lead to better prevention strategies and inform targeted research for ALS in veterans.
How similar studies have gone: Previous ALS research has linked environmental factors to disease risk, but direct CNS tissue analyses in veterans are novel and exploratory.
Where this research is happening
-
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic
Lebanon, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Stommel, Elijah W — Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic
- Study coordinator: Stommel, Elijah W
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.