VISN 1 CTN and MVP partnership
Research coordinators from the Million Veteran Program (MVP), Central Western Massachusetts VA, explain the program to a Veteran during an outreach event.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research & Development’s Million Veteran Program (MVP) was expanded across most of VISN 1 as a result of collaboration between MVP and Clinical Trials Network (CTN) staff.
MVP sites were open and recruiting research participants in the VA Boston Healthcare System and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System before working with the CTN, but after partnering with the CTN, MVP was able to expand across the network opening sites at VA Central Western Massachusetts, White River Junction VA Medical Center, and the Bedford VA Medical Center. The VA Maine Healthcare System and the VA Medical Center have received Central IRB approval, and should begin recruiting in the next few months.
MVP is a genetic research program that seeks to register one million Veterans to become the largest study of genes and health in the world to learn more about the relationship between genes and common diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, along with military-related illnesses such as PTSD.
This collaboration with the CTN is the first consortium of sites that was enrolled in MVP under the Northern New England Research Consortium, and has enrolled 2,051 of MVP’s 400,000 Veterans in less than a year. All other sites have enrolled individually.
The CTN is leading the initiative to integrate clinical research into medical practice by bringing health care providers and researchers together to advance medical science, reduce health care costs, and bring cutting-edge health care to Veterans.
Some VA studies currently using MVP data:
Cardiovascular risk factors—Drs. Farooq Amin and Peter Wilson at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, and Dr. Kelly Cho at the Boston VA Health Care System, will lead an effort probing the genes that influence how obesity and lipid levels affect heart risk. Using MVP data, their team will also look at whether these genetic factors differ among African Americans and Hispanics. "These populations are extremely important in VA," said Amin.
Multi-substance use—Drs. Daniel Federman and Amy Justice at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, and Dr. Henry Kranzler at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, will examine the genetic risk factors for chronic use of alcohol, tobacco, and opioids—and the dangerous use of all three together. "MVP offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance this field," said Federman.
To learn more about MVP or where to direct Veterans who wish to enroll, call toll-free 866-441-6075 or visit www.research.va.gov/MVP
