Long‑lasting environmental poisons in veterans' brains tied to higher ALS risk
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-11422026 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks for persistent toxic chemicals in veterans' brain and spinal cord tissue that might explain why veterans develop ALS more often.
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 | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $45,000 |
| NIH project number | 6R01TS000331-02M001 |
| Project ID | NIH-11422026 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are U.S. veterans who can donate brain and/or spinal cord tissue after death, including veterans with ALS and control veterans without ALS for comparison.
✕Less likely to help
People without military service or those unable or unwilling to participate in tissue donation are unlikely to directly benefit from this tissue‑based study in the short term.
What this research studies
Researchers will examine donated brain and spinal cord tissue from U.S. veterans to measure long‑lasting toxicants linked to military exposures such as burn pits, engine exhaust, and firing ranges. They will use chemical and molecular analyses to identify metals, persistent organic pollutants, and other contaminants and compare levels between veterans who developed ALS and veterans who did not. By linking specific toxicant mixtures to ALS cases in veterans, the team aims to identify likely exposure sources and timing that raise risk. Results could point to targets for prevention, monitoring, and follow‑up clinical research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify specific exposures that raise ALS risk in veterans, helping to prevent future cases and guide monitoring or early detection.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has linked certain environmental exposures to ALS risk, but directly measuring persistent toxicants in veteran CNS tissue is a relatively novel and less‑common approach.
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
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.