For Immediate Release: Monday, April 7, 2014

Media Advisory: GuLF STUDY Update: Four Years After the Deepwater Horizon Oil SpillMedia teleconference April 11 with lead scientist of largest health study for oil spill clean-up workers

What:

Telephone press conference.

Scientists from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, will discuss the Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study (GuLF STUDY), and what they have learned to date about the 33,000 oil spill clean-up workers and volunteers enrolled in the study. They will provide information on the status of collecting and analyzing the data, and future plans. In addition, they will present some preliminary findings, and explain why it is so important that these participants stay involved in this long-term study.

In 2010, NIH launched the GuLF STUDY following the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. The goal of the study is to better understand if exposure to the oil and dispersants may lead to short-term or long-term health effects in workers and volunteers who helped with the clean-up efforts. Media representatives are invited to listen to the update, and time will be allotted for a question-and-answer session.

Please RSVP with your intent to participate in the teleconference to [email protected].

Who:

Dale Sandler, Ph.D.Lead Researcher for the GuLF STUDYChief, Epidemiology Branch, NIEHSFor a biography, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/epi/chronic/index.cfm

Aubrey Miller, M.D.Senior Medical Advisor, NIEHS

For a biography, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/advisor/miller/index.cfm When:

Friday, April 11, 2014, 1:00 p.m. EDT, noon CDT

Where:

In the U.S. and Canada, call 1-800-894-5910 or 1-785-424-1052.

Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 1-785-424-1052. Conference ID: GULF

More information:

The GuLF STUDY is a study of the health of clean-up workers and volunteers who responded to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. NIH is sponsoring this study. NIEHS is leading the research. The GuLF STUDY is designed to help us understand the health impacts of the oil spill, and to find answers to the questions that matter to oil spill clean-up workers and others involved in clean-up activities. For more information about the study, visit https://gulfstudy.nih.gov/en/index.html .

###NIEHS supports research to understand the effects of the environment on human health and is part of NIH. For more information on environmental health topics, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov. Subscribe to one or more of the NIEHS news lists (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/releases/newslist/index.cfm) to stay current on NIEHS news, press releases, grant opportunities, training, events, and publications.About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

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