# Military exposures and ALS in a large veteran population

> **NIH ALLCDC R01** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · 2024 · $422,727

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 We propose to study the relation between military branch, occupation, deployment, and traumatic brain
injury, as well as use of statins, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) incidence and survival using a new
extremely large database that has linked both Department of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Administration (VA)
data collected well before the onset of ALS. We will also explore whether use of statins protects against any
adverse association with other military exposures. We will conduct a case-control study nested within the joint
DOD-VA DaVINCI database of over 4 million US military veterans. We anticipate over 14,000 ALS cases and
will match each on age and sex to 10 randomly selected controls. Military data includes aspects of military
service like branch of service, military occupation, deployment, as well as demographic information and health
data. In particular, it includes data on traumatic brain injury—captured both in theater (i.e. in the conflict
environment) and elsewhere. VA data captures medical history of those service members who get health care
at VA sites after their service. These data allow us to identify cases of ALS as well as use of medications such
as use of statins. By nesting this study within large joint DOD-VA database, we have a unique setting that will
allow us for the first time to assess the relation between key military exposures and ALS in an unprecedented
way. Our hypothesis is that the increased risk of ALS frequently seen among those who served in the military
is driven by specific exposures that are not randomly distributed among service members, but rather likely are
selectively experienced by those in certain jobs or who are deployed (possibly varying by deployment location).
Our study will help refine our understanding of what those factors could be.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10880221
- **Project number:** 5R01TS000338-03
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Marc G Weisskopf
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $422,727
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-30 → 2025-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10880221

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10880221, Military exposures and ALS in a large veteran population (5R01TS000338-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10880221. Licensed CC0.

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