UK-led East Palestine health study launches on third anniversary of derailment

Photo courtesy 636Buster via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (Feb. 3, 2026) — Exactly three years after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and released toxic chemicals into the air and water, a major long-term health study is officially underway to find answers about lingering physical and mental health challenges in the community.

The East Palestine Train Derailment Health Research Program is led by the University of Kentucky in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and Yale University. The five-year, $10 million program is funded by the National Institutes of Health. 

Researchers from all three universities met with residents at a community town hall at East Palestine High School on Feb. 2 to discuss the program’s goals and explain how community participation is the key to its success. The research team and community partners also opened a new research clinic this week. 
 

Deeper, more comprehensive research

The program is the first large-scale federal study focused on the long-term health effects of the disaster. While UK researchers have been tracking local health through surveys since April 2023, this new phase is much larger and more detailed.

In an interview with local media, Erin Haynes, the program’s lead researcher and a professor in the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health, said the new funding allows the team to go much deeper than previous studies.

"There's a lot more funding so that we can add deeper insight into some of our earlier findings, and we're really hoping to address the community's questions," Haynes said. "We have better answers the more people who participate."
 

Addressing health concerns

Preliminary data collected by UK in 2025 showed that many residents still face physical and mental health challenges. About 70% of those surveyed reported respiratory issues, and nearly 30% showed signs of PTSD.

To address these concerns, the three universities are combining their expertise:

• University of Kentucky: Tracking lung function, heart health, mental health, and reproductive health through annual surveys and clinic visits.

• University of Pittsburgh: Studying how chemical exposure may affect liver and thyroid function.

• Yale University: Using water modeling to track potential contamination in groundwater and drinking water.

“We know the public has a lot of questions that are unanswered, and we want to do our very best to make sure that they get answers they need,” said Haynes, who also serves director of a NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences and as an associate director for the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

The UK CCTS provides critical support for the health research program, including specialized laboratory testing. CCTS Director Katherine Hartmann leads the assessment of reproductive health concerns resulting from the derailment.

Misti Allison, an East Palestine resident and chair of the program’s Community Advisory Board, said the start of the study brings a sense of progress.

"This federally-supported research program represents a critical step toward understanding the long-term health impacts of the derailment," said Allison, noting that the program intends to ensure the voices of impacted community members remain central to the research.

A call for community participation

The success of the research depends on the active involvement of three key groups: residents who lived in East Palestine or the surrounding area at the time of the derailment, first responders and cleanup workers who assisted at the scene, and residents of Cambridge, Ohio, which was not affected by contaminants released in the derailment. Seeking participants from Cambridge as a comparison community is a vital step that helps scientists distinguish the specific health impacts of the derailment from general health trends in similar regions.

Individuals eligible for the study will be asked to complete a 30-minute health survey once a year, with occasional brief follow-ups. Most participants will also be asked to visit a nearby clinic for a 30-to-45-minute appointment to record health measurements. For younger participants (ages 8-17), a parent or primary caregiver must also participate in the study.

The research team emphasizes that all participation is strictly confidential, with data shared only through group-level summary reports.

To learn more about the study or to sign up, visit research.uky.edu/environment/east-palestine-health-research or contact the team at ephealthstudy@uky.edu or 859-562-2119.

The Health Research Study is led by University of Kentucky, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and local community partners The Way Station and the East Liverpool City Hospital/East Palestine Clinic. The study is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
 

About the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science 

The University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) unites clinicians, researchers, and communities to accelerate health research from the lab to the community to ensure everyone has access to the latest medical breakthroughs. The UK CCTS is part of a national network funded by the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. 

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number OT2ES038696 and the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through grant number UL1TR001998. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. 

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Media Contact: Christian Honce, Christian.Honce@uky.edu