A few are epidemiological projects, involving only the analysis of medical records of patients to identify patterns of illness. Some projects involving human subjects also include efforts to develop new instrumentation or techniques in which human volunteers assist with the evaluation of the instrument. The Institutional Review Board is charged with ensuring that all approved projects are in full compliance with the Federal Policy on Protection of Human Subjects. DOE supports research involving humans for a number of reasons, including its legislative mandate to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the area of nuclear medicine. This gives real-time images of how organs, such as the brain, are functioning.
Researchers use the technology in their studies to learn more about drug addiction.
DOE funds epidemiological studies as part of its legislative mandate and its responsibility as an employer to ensure the health of its work force. By reviewing occupational histories and death certificates, researchers track the health and mortality of current or former DOE and DOE contractor workers at DOE's sites. Data on this epidemiology research have been available on a separate database, the Comprehensive Epidemiology Data Resource . Other agencies also fund research involving human subjects at DOE Laboratories because the Laboratories are world class facilities, with extensive expertise in biology, medicine, and engineering. The information contained in this database has been previously available from local sources, and has been maintained for DOE administrative uses.