A Wayne State University School of Medicine professor has been appointed to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee studying the generational effects of veterans who served in the Gulf War.

Stephen Krawetz, Ph.D., associate director of the C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development and the Charlotte B. Failing Professor of Fetal Therapy and Diagnosis in the WSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, serves on the Gulf War and Health, Volume 11: Generational Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War.

During the next two years, the committee will conduct a study to assess the current research available on possible generational health effects that may be the result of exposures experienced by veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. The committee, according to the academies, will consider which toxicants, including oil wells set ablaze by Saddam Hussein's troops, pesticides, nerve agents, prophylactic agents, depleted uranium and vaccines, are associated with cellular pathophysiological and reproductive, developmental and birth defect effects in parents, children and grandchildren.

The committee will also assess areas requiring further scientific study of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxins during the wars in an effort to identify current or possible health effects in the descendants of Gulf War veterans.

Members will develop a framework for monitoring and studying generational health effects over time, including post-exposure assessments, initial screening of veterans and their descendants, and establish a process for what should be included in such screenings.

Dr. Krawetz is also a professor of Molecular Medicine and Genetics.

The private, nonprofit National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine provide advice on challenges facing the nation and the world.