VA New England Healthcare System

Veteran Volunteers Transform Healthcare

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Not unlike their already selfless service to the nation, Veterans are stepping forward to help others in a new way — an exciting new VA research program to study how genes affect health. The Million Veteran Program (MVP) launched in January 2011, and the goal is for one million Veterans in the VA Healthcare System to volunteer to take part in this pioneering program, reaching a million participants over the next five to seven years.

VA strives to be a leader in research to provide the best healthcare available, and this new initiative aims to transform healthcare for Veterans as well as all Americans. To achieve this lofty goal, MVP is creating an enormous medical database of genetic, military experience, lifestyle, and health information for research on diseases and military-related illnesses (such as post-traumatic stress disorder).

In the long run, researchers hope to find new ways of preventing and treating illnesses in Veterans. The research may help doctors understand why some people get diseases and others do not, and according to Dr. J. Michael Gaziano, MVP Principal Investigator, genes research can even provide future insight on prescribing medications. “It may help us pick a particular drug for a patient,” said Dr. Gaziano. “Some patients respond to certain drugs and others don’t, and understanding about how the genetics influences that will help us tailor therapies for a given individual.”

In general, gaining a better understanding of how genes work may help to prevent and improve treatment of common illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. By collecting genetic samples and health information from large groups of people, researchers can compare which genes are linked to certain health traits. And that’s why VA is calling for one million Veterans, as people from all walks of life are important to making the database an invaluable resource. So what does involvement in MVP include? Participants will fill out surveys about health and health-related behaviors; provide a blood sample that will be stored for future research; complete an optional health assessment; allow secure access to VA and VA-linked medical and health information; and allow future contact.

The samples and data will be available to VA researchers, other federal health agencies, and academic institutions for research projects approved by VA oversight committees. However, the name, address, date of birth, or social security number of every participating Veteran will not be included in the VA Central Research Database. In fact, VA is going to great lengths to protect privacy of volunteers, as security and patient confidentiality are top priorities for MVP.

Knowledge about the effects of certain genes has already aided in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment for illnesses. Together, MVP researchers and participating Veterans can help transform healthcare for future generations.

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