BP announces grant of $10 million to NIH

BP will provide $10 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with money from a $500 million research initiative set up after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. 

The grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) will go toward a study of potential public health issues relating to the Gulf oil spill and other spill-related health research, the company announced Tuesday. 

The total spent from the fund so far is $35 million. In June, BP announced that $5 million would go to Louisiana State University, $10 million to the Florida Institute of Oceanography and $10 million to the Northern Gulf Institute. 

The BP funding "is intended to support the immediate needs of researchers, including Gulf Coast academic institutions and local and state agencies, in understanding potential acute and long-term health impacts of exposures to oil, dispersed oil and dispersants," according to a release today. 

NIH will determine how to spend the money and will coordinate with Gulf state academic institutions and state and local officials.

The creation of the fund was announced May 24 as a way to study the environmental and potential health effects of the Gulf oil spill. The process for awarding future funding under GRI is currently under development in consultation with Gulf-state governors’ offices.