Officials from the National Institutes of Health for brain research are letting a partnership with the NFL expire next month "with more than half the money unused," according to Fainaru-Wada & Fainaru of ESPN.com. The NFL in '12 donated $30M to the NIH as part of a move Commissioner Roger Goodell "touted as a demonstration of the league's commitment to fund independent science exploring the link between football and brain disease." However, after a "bitter dispute in 2015 in which the NFL backed out of a major study that had been awarded to a researcher who had been critical of the league," the NIH decided "months ago" to end the association. The breakup would "mark an uneasy conclusion to an initiative often billed as the largest single donation in NFL history." The NIH's move to leave approximately $16M on the table is a "measure of the mistrust that built up following the league's unsuccessful efforts to rescind funding awarded to a group" led by Boston Univ. neuroscientist Robert Stern. The NFL in the original agreement "retained veto power" over how the donation could be used. Ranking Democrats from the House Committee on Energy & Commerce on Wednesday -- the day after BU researchers reported finding CTE in the brains of 110 of 111 former NFLers -- sent a letter to Goodell asking how the league planned to "follow through with its commitment to the NIH." The league in a statement noted that officials are "engaged in constructive discussions" with the NIH's fundraising arm "regarding potential new research projects and the remaining funds of our $30 million commitment" (ESPN.com, 7/27).
