Research

The theme of this year’s National VA Research Week, May 17–21, is “One Team, One Mission,” reflecting the nationwide focus of VA researchers on improving Veterans’ health care and quality of life.

Most research on statins—drugs used by millions to lower cholesterol—has focused on middle-aged people, not the elderly. Now, a major statin study focused on older people is underway. And 50 VA medical centers are taking part.

More than a year ago, a staff member spotted a vulnerable area on those doors that patients could use to try to hang themselves. The hospital responded by installing a device that would make it virtually impossible for someone to do so.

Leaders of the Million Veteran Program (MVP) are addressing this gap through a new initiative called MVP MIND. It will survey 50,000 new participants with serious mental health conditions about their experiences. MVP officials believe such efforts will lead to more powerful research into these issues and better treatments.

Using an innovative protein-based approach, researchers at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and nearby Emory University have found genes and corresponding proteins that could point the way to new depression treatments.

It’s become a clear goal of VA’s Million Veteran Program, one of the world’s largest databases of health and genetic information: encouraging more racial and ethnic diversity in its enrollment, which is now at more than 830,000 in its climb toward 1 million and beyond. The greater the diversity, the program’s leaders believe, the more opportunities for genetic research into groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the medical community.

While helping Veterans receive care outside VA increases their access to health care services, it could also lead to coordination problems. Some concern exists that Veterans receiving care from more than one source could result in fragmented care and poor clinical outcomes.

“VA has been investing in telehealth for years, so the necessary equipment and infrastructure was there,” Kraft says. “It just seemed like it was meant to be. The need was there, the resources and support were there, and the motivation was there.”

It’s yet another example of ingenuity on the part of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL), a collaborative effort between the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and the University of Pittsburgh. HERL researches, develops, and tests a variety of technologies, including wheelchairs, and uses 3D printers with advanced manufacturing to design and create prostheses and other assistive devices.

Dr. Juan P. Casas, a physician epidemiologist at the VA Boston Healthcare System, led the study. The research included collaborators from the University of Cambridge and the European Bioinformatics Institute in England, and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Italy.

Researchers found minimal differences in community participation between white and minority service members and Veterans, contrary to results in non-military samples. They suggested that the study results may have been influenced by supportive resources available to service members and Veterans, like employment assistance.

However, combat experience was not strongly linked to drinking to cope when the researchers adjusted for a person’s total number of PTSD symptoms.