“InnoVAtion to Implementation”
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will celebrate 93 years of improving the lives of Veterans and other Americans through the department’s health research and research programs during National VA Research Week held May 14-18.
The 2018 theme, “InnoVAtion to Implementation,” highlights VA researchers’ role in identifying and testing new ways to prevent and treat illness and disease, and translating those ideas into everyday health care for Veterans and other Americans.
“Most Veterans will be familiar with the slogan ‘improvise, adapt and overcome,’ said Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “This captures the forward-leaning spirit of the VA research community. For more than nine decades, VA’s researchers have eagerly taken on problems affecting the health of our Veterans and searched for new solutions and better ways of addressing those health issues. The results of VA’s research have improved health care dramatically — not only for Veterans, but for all Americans and people around the world.”
VA medical centers will mark Research Week with special events such as tours of research facilities, lectures, poster displays and luncheons to honor the Veterans who participate voluntarily in VA studies.
Events at VA medical centers nationwide will showcase the work of VA researchers in areas ranging from drug discovery, informatics, rehabilitation technology to mental health, caregiving and complementary and integrative health.
One focus of the events will be VA’s Million Veteran Program (MVP), now one of the world’s largest genomic databases, with well over 650,000 Veterans enrolled. More than 20 research studies using MVP data are already underway, on topics ranging from heart and kidney disease to mental health.
To learn more about the contributions of VA researchers, past and present, visit www.research.va.gov. For more information on local and national events marking National VA Research Week, visit www.research.va.gov/researchweek.
###
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Subscribe today to receive these news releases in your inbox.
More from the Press Room
News Releases
VA is beginning early-stage planning to deploy the Federal Electronic Health Record system to four Michigan facilities — Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw — in mid-2026.
News Releases
VA released the National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report — the most comprehensive national report on Veteran suicide, analyzing Veteran suicide from 2001-2022.
News Releases
VA announces three key steps to help Veterans experiencing homelessness, including SSVF Grants, GPD Case Management Grants and the Mayor's Pledge.
