1. PUBLIC HEALTH:
Funding, focus are question marks as drilling studies proliferate
A handful of prestigious universities will conduct research on the health effects of oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale. A stone's throw away, three hospital networks and the Pennsylvania Department of Health hope to set up a database of health records, socioeconomic and psychological effects and environmental sampling. The challenge, as with other proposed health studies in the Marcellus, is money.