For Researchers

Collaborations and Data Requests

The GuLFSTUDY welcomes proposals for collaborative studies from within NIH and the wider scientific community. Proposed studies may involve the analysis of routinely collected data or entail analysis of biological samples or new data collection from study participants. Proposals involving use of limited biological samples or new cohort contact will generally require scientific peer review and independent funding. Approval for analyses using GuLFSTUDY data will consider other ongoing research and scientific priorities. Interested researchers should identify a potential collaborator among the GuLF Study investigator team. It is advisable to discuss research ideas with an investigator to determine feasibility and data availability. De-identified datasets limited to those elements needed to address a specific study question will be shared under an official NIH Data Transfer agreement. Such agreements are designed to protect that confidentiality and privacy of study participants and typically require approval from authorized personnel at NIH and the recipient organization and require researchers to work under the oversight of an Institutional Review Board. Collaborators may be asked to compensate study contractors for data requests that require more than routine dataset preparation. Limited datasets and/or statistical code required to validate published papers are available upon request.

To start the proposal process or submit a data request, please visit the EpiShare site. The EpiShare site contains additional study information and a data and/or specimen request form that can be submitted through the site. See the Publications page for a list of the GuLFSTUDY publications. A link to already approved and ongoing data analyses is being developed. Contact the study at info@gulfstudy.nih.gov to find out if work you propose is not already underway.

The web pages that follow contain additional information about the study that may help when proposing a collaborative study or analysis.