VA and other organizations conduct research evaluating the health effects of service in the Gulf during Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

• VA Environmental Epidemiology Service Research 
• VA War Related Illness and Injury Study Centers Research 
• Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences 
• Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses 
• DeployMed ResearchLINK

You also may want to conduct an extensive search on Gulf War Veterans health through the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s PubMed.*

VA Environmental Epidemiology Service Research

VA’s Environmental Epidemiology Service (EES) assesses health concerns among Veterans who were potentially exposed to environmental hazards during military service, including during the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

EES conducts studies and maintains databases and registries of Veterans’ exposures and health care utilization, which provide data for much of the research.  View ongoing research studies and published research studies.

VA War Related Illness and Injury Study Centers Research

VA’s War Related Illness and Injury Study Centers (WRIISCs) offer services to combat Veterans, families, and healthcare providers on deployment-related health concerns. Also, the WRIISCs conduct research that looks at post-deployment health issues and medically unexplained symptoms. Learn more about WRIISC research.

Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences is a non-government organization that evaluates scientific literature and provides advice. By law, VA contracts with the IOM to scientifically review evidence for possible connections between Gulf War Veterans’ illnesses and exposure to toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive medicine during military service. Find out more about IOM reports and VA findings.

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Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses

Congress created the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses in 1998 to make recommendations to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs about government research on health effects of military service during the Gulf War. View recently-funded research studies and recently-published research articles.

Read about the November 2008 RAC report and VA's conclusions.

DeployMed ResearchLINK

DeployMed ResearchLINK* is a central resource of information on federally funded medical research related to deployments from the 1990-1991 Gulf War forward. DeployMed ResearchLINK is a collaborative effort of the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Health and Human Services.

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