NewsSportsEntertainmentLifestyleOpinionUSA TODAYObituariesE-EditionLegals Pitt to study potential health effects of fracking The University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health received a $2.5 million state contract to study known or suspected health complications related to fracking. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration will partner with University of Pittsburgh researchers to further study the possible health consequences of hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania. Wolf on Tuesday said the school’s Graduate School of Public Health received a $2.5 million contract to conduct two observational studies on known or suspected health effects of fracking. One study, led by Dr. Evelyn Talbott, a Pitt epidemiology professor and director of the Environmental Epidemiology section, will investigate the relationship between fracking and childhood cancers in southwestern Pennsylvania. For more than three decades, she has conducted research on cancers and other health afflictions in the region.