The statistics provided below are based on information obtained from a questionnaire that is completed by individual researchers. Due to the nature of the information requested, some subjective interpretations of the questions are expected.
The number of reporting research facilities in the current database is 35. Eleven of these research facilities are DOE laboratories and 24 are non-DOE laboratories (such as Hospitals and Universities). Of the 35 reporting research facilities only one is located outside the United States, in Italy (Azienda Ospedaliera Policlinico di Modena). Detailed information can be obtained about most of these research facilities through the above links to their home page on the World Wide Web.
The combined research facilities reported a total of 252 projects during FY96, 83% were conducted at DOE facilities and 17% at non-DOE facilities. Three national laboratories, LLNL, LBNL and BNL comprised over 50% of the projects while BNL was the single largest contibutor with 59 projects. Seventy-five of the 252 projects listed in this database were not supported by DOE grants. The reason these projects were listed in the DOE's Human Subjects Database was because the research was performed in DOE laboratories or by DOE employees.
The total funding that was directly associated with tasks or portions of projects involving the use of human subjects was about 50 million dollars during FY96, ~45% of the total funds were reported from DOE facilities while ~55% of total funds were reported from non-DOE facilities. DOE annually funds approximately 37 million in projects involving human subjects; other federal and private sources fund an estimated 13 million in such projects. Three national laboratories, LLNL, LBNL and BNL each accounted for ~10% of the reported funds. One project, managed by the National Academy of Sciences, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) in Hiroshima, Japan, accounted for ~39% of the total reported funding. Of the NAS funds, ~89% go directly to the RERF.
A total of 28,616 human subjects were reported during FY96, ~80% from DOE facilities and ~20% from non-DOE facilities. The projects from LBNL and ORAU comprise over 40% of the total number of human subjects, while the single project managed by NAS, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), accounted for ~13% of the human subjects. The principal function of ORAU is to serve as the Epidemiologic Surveillance Data Center for the DOE and ~95% of the human subjects from this facility are from records based epidemiological studies and registrys. About 60% of the human subjects from LBNL are from questionnaires, surveys and epidemiological studies. The NAS project is also primarily an epidemiological study with some clinical followup.
Because registrys, questionnaires, surveys and epidemiological studies were included in this database the total number of human subjects reported is not representative of actual people participating but includes a large number of records from human subjects. In fact, ~87% of the total number of human subjects were involved in these studies.
Of the 252 projects listed in this database approximately 85 involved human exposure to radiation. The nature of the exposure was therapeutic, clinical, or occupational. The number of human volunteers participating in these studies was 5407. In all of the studies the radiation used was as a tracer to facilitate imaging (i.e. PET), or for diagnostic (i.e. X-Ray) and/or therapeutic reasons. DOE does NOT support any research in which the effect of radiation upon humans per se is the object of study.