NLM's Reznick Served on National Academies Committee

As part of his public service, Dr. Jeffrey Reznick, senior historian at NIH’s National Library of Medicine, recently completed his 18-month service on a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The committee was tasked with assessing the feasibility of an epidemiologic study of veterans who participated in the Manhattan Project from 1942-1947.

Reznick joined an interdisciplinary group of experts to evaluate whether an epidemiologic study could be conducted to assess the long-term health effects of radiological and chemical exposures among veterans who participated in a top-secret program to develop the world’s first nuclear weapon at sites around the country. The report concluded such a study is feasible and provides alternative methods to examine associations between exposures and adverse health outcomes among this population of veterans.

The committee identified key challenges to conducting an epidemiological study, including the incomplete availability of military unit records and personnel files needed to construct a roster of exposed individuals; a lack of systematically collected exposure data—particularly for chemical exposures, which are only documented in high-dose accident reports; and the absence of critical health and demographic information. However, the committee concluded that with careful consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the exposure and health outcome data, a risk assessment could be conducted to estimate the potential health risks to Manhattan Project military veterans.

To read the committee’s full report, visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK618462/.