VA ORD Research Services

BLR&D

The Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development Service conducts research that explores basic biological or physiological principles in humans or animals but does not involve intact human beings. For example, it includes research on animal models and investigations of tissues, blood or other biologic specimens from humans.

CSR&D
and
CSP

The Clinical Science Research and Development Service conducts research that focuses on intact human beings as the unit of examination. Examples include interventional and effectiveness studies, clinical, epidemiological and technological studies.

The VA Cooperative Studies Program is the Division of VA Research and Development that is responsible for the planning and conduct of large multicenter clinical trials in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

HSR&D
and
QUERI

The Health Services Research and Development Service pursues research at the interface of health care systems, patients and health care outcomes. HSR&D underscores all aspects of VA health care; specifically quality, access, patient outcomes and health care costs.

VA/HSR&D's Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) works to improve the quality of healthcare for veterans by implementing research findings into routine clinical practice.

RR&D

The Rehabilitation Research & Development Service is dedicated to the well-being of America's veterans through a full spectrum of research: from approved rehabilitation research projects, through evaluation and technology transfer to final clinical application.

top

VA ORD-Wide Programs

The mission of the Program for Research Integrity Development & Education is to protect participants in VA human research. PRIDE is responsible for all policy development and guidance, and all training and education in human research protection throughout the VA.

TTP

The Technology Transfer Program serves the American public by translating the results of worthy discoveries made by VA employees into practice. The program educates inventors concerning their rights and obligations, rigorously evaluates all inventions, obtains patents, and assists in the commercialization of new products.

Biosafety & Biosecurity

The VA Office of Research and Development (ORD) has developed its Biosafety & Biosecurity Program to ensure the safety of individuals involved with research at Veterans Health Administration research laboratories and to protect the environment. The program strives to ensure the security and safety of all individuals, resources, information, biological agents, chemical agents and radiation materials/sources found within research laboratories.

Tissue Banking

The VA Tissue Banking Program was developed for the collection and storage of biological specimens for research.

Animal Research

Animal Research: The primary mission of the CVMO's office is to provide professional and administrative guidance and support to VA field animal care and use programs. This is accomplished by phone and email consultations, periodic training sessions, and development of web-based support systems.

REQUIP

The VA Research Equipment Quick Use Initiative Program (REQUIP) is responsible for the redistribution of nonexpendable research equipment including equipment for the care and use of animals.

Women's Health

VA R&D Women's Health was established as a research priority to develop new knowledge about how to best provide for the health and care of women veterans. VA has built an increasingly productive portfolio of biomedical, clinical, rehabilitation and health services research since the early 1990's.

top

Funded Field Centers

HSR&D Centers of Excellence and Resource Centers
(click for more detail about HSR&D's CoEs, Resource Centers, and REAPs)

Ann Arbor, MI
The Center for Clinical Management Research focuses on clinical practice management issues for those conditions that account for a large proportion of the costs and preventable morbidity and mortality in VHA.

Bedford, MA
The Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research concentrates on four domains: health quality assessment, outcomes measurement, health economics, and health statistics. Across these domains, researchers develop innovative methodologies and models of care to provide the most effective, efficient and appropriate care to our nation’s veterans.

Boston, MA
The Center for Information Dissemination and Education Resources (CIDER) is a VA Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) national Resource Center. Established in June 2004, CIDER's mission is to improve the health and care of veterans by disseminating important HSR&D findings and information to policy makers, managers, clinicians, and researchers throughout VA and the broader health care community.

Boston, MA
The Center for Organization, Leadership and Management Research identifies organization, leadership, and management practices, evaluates the effects of leadership development programs, develops a database that captures the characteristics of individual VA medical centers, and Veterans Integrated Service Networks as a whole.

Durham, NC
The Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care focuses on ambulatory care, women's health, geriatrics, and epidemiology of chronic disease.

Hines, IL
The Center for Management of Complex Chronic Care focuses on pharmacotherapeutics, health economics and value in health care, and behavioral interventions and health communications as they relate to complex chronic care.

Hines, IL
The VA Information Resource Center (VIREC) was established in July 1998 to support researchers who use databases and informatics by providing an infrastructure of database and informatics experts, customer service, expert advice, information products, and Web technology to VA researchers and others.

Houston, TX
The Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies focuses on quality of care assessment, determinants of health services utilization, translational (implementation) research, health disparities, chronic care models, and health decision making.

Indianapolis, IN
The Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice generates new knowledge about best practices, identifies organizational, environmental and provider-based aspects of health systems, designs and test health system interventions, makes maximal use of research evidence in routine care; and facilitates the use of research in the dissemination of best practices.

Little Rock, AR
The goals of the Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research are: to improve the quality of specialty mental health care for Veterans, to improve access to and engagement in care for Veterans with untreated mental health and substance use disorders in the community, to improve outcomes of mental health care for Veterans, and to develop and test interventions to improve access, engagement, quality, outcomes, and implementation strategies to promote widespread adoption and sustainability of cost-effective interventions.

Menlo Park, CA
The Health Economics Resource Center is a national center that assists VA researchers in assessing the cost-effectiveness of medical care, evaluating the efficiency of VA programs and providers, and conducting high-quality health economics research.

Minneapolis, MN
The Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research focuses on evidence-based practice for improving outcomes in chronic disease, evaluating models for managing chronic diseases, and develops and assesses innovative models for managing chronic disease.

Palo Alto, CA
The Center for Health Care Evaluation improves the delivery of health care services, patient decision aids, screening procedures, clinical decision-making, evaluates treatment for substance abuse and psychiatric disorders, evaluates treatment for older veterans, and health services research methodology.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA
The Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion develops and supports research, education, policy making, and dissemination that focuses on disparities related to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and comorbid illness in patients with conditions prevalent in the veteran population, such as cardiovascular disease, HIV, and alcohol and substance abuse

Seattle, WA
The Northwest Center for Outcomes Research in Older Adults focuses on management of chronic disease, preservation of independence of elderly and disabled veterans, innovative models of care, and new methods of health services research.

Sepulveda, CA
The Center for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior carries out a program of research focused on healthcare provider behavior and its determinants, and is committed to increased understanding of the features of the environment, organization, practice, provider, patient and encounter that influence healthcare provider practices and ultimately health outcomes.

Tampa, FL
The Center for Maximizing Rehabilitation Outcomes combines traditional health services and rehabilitation research approaches to advance the science of rehabilitation across multiple Veteran groups including Iraqi and Afghanistan servicemen and women, older adults and persons with spinal cord injury, amputations, and polytrauma. The focus is early detection and treatment of Veterans with subtle, delayed-onset, and overlapping symptoms, development of sensitive and clinically meaningful measurement tools, and testing rehabilitation interventions to promote safety, function, activity, community participation, and QOL, while reducing healthcare utilization and cost.

top

RR&D Centers of Excellence and REAP

Atlanta, GA
The Center of Excellence for Aging Veterans with Vision Loss works to improve function, independence, and quality of life of aging veterans with visual disabilities and those acquiring visual disabilities. The center focuses on vision, cognition and mobility research, and research that highlights the interaction among these areas.

Baltimore, MD
The VA RR&D Maryland Exercise and Robotics Center of Excellence (MERCE) was established in 2005 and is located in the VA Maryland Health Care System in Baltimore. The mission of MERCE is to develop and test new rehabilitation therapies to improve physical function, fitness, and cardiovascular health for Veterans with stroke and other neurological disability conditions. Our research models emphasize motor learning and progressive task-practice to improve gait, balance, and upper extremity function, exercise rehabilitation to improve fitness, skeletal muscle structure and function, cardiovascular health and related elements of cognitive function, and principals of engineering and biomechanics to advance robotics assisted rehabilitation.

Boston, MA
The Translational Research Center for Traumatic Brain Injury and Stress Disorders (TRACTS) promotes multidisciplinary research aimed at improving our understanding of the complex cognitive and emotional problems faced by OEF/OIF veterans. The Center focuses on innovations in the diagnosis of mild TBI and in the development of treatments that target the combined effects of TBI and stress-related disorders.

Contact: Mary.Fitzgerald@va.gov, 857-364-4026

Bronx, NY
The Center of Excellence on the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury is studying the use of anabolic pharmaceuticals, including anabolic steroids, to treat secondary disabilities of SCI. SCI, which affects more than 40,000 veterans nationwide, often is associated with problems related to muscular function, breathing, bowel movements, and cardiovascular health.

Cleveland, OH
The Center for Advanced Platform Technology (APT) develops advanced technologies that serve the clinical needs of veterans with motor and sensory deficits and limb loss to provide clinician-researchers within the VA with new tools for rehabilitation, treatment and scientific inquiry that lead to independence and enhanced societal participation.

Cleveland, OH
The Center for Functional Electrical Stimulation investigates functional electrical stimulation (FES), a technology that relies on controlled electrical current to activate paralyzed muscles to return full or partial physical function to individuals with disabilities. Accomplishments include FDA approval of a hand grasp system and commencement of clinical trials of an advanced bladder/bowel management system.

Gainesville, FL
Shaping the future of neurorehabilitation through treatment evolution and innovation, unique teams of scientists at the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center (BRRC) conduct basic and applied research on neuroplasticity to increase the effectiveness of treatments for motor and cognitive impairments caused by neurologic injury or disease. The long-term goal of the BRRC is to determine how neuroplasticity can be maximized by neurorehabilitation for specific conditions or persons to obtain complete restoration of function.

Gainesville, FL
The mission of the Rehabilitation Outcomes Research Center (RORC) is to conduct interdisciplinary research that improves the health, function, and community reintegration of Veterans challenged by disability and limited access to health-related services. RORC investigators study how to improve the accessibility, design, administration, management, and cost of care; use state-of-the-science methodologies to develop new and more precise measures across the continuum of care; and evaluate innovative systems and processes of care, including the psychosocial aspects of recovery, informal caregiving, and community health extension and reintegration. The RORC is the only Research Enhancement Award Program supported by core funding from both the Health Services Research and Development and Rehabilitation Research and Development services. The RORC is academically affiliated with the University of Florida.

Iowa City, IA
Research at the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss focuses on the early detection of potential blinding disorders of the Veteran and general population, including retinal disease, glaucoma, and traumatic brain injury. We are testing new ways of determining the earlier signs of progression and response to treatment; and developing new treatment innovations. Areas of exploration include the use of telemedicine and computer aided diagnosis for the detection of eye disease, as well as neuroprotection and neurotrophic growth factors for prevention and healing.

Palo Alto, CA
The Center of Excellence on Bone and Joint Rehabilitation focuses on developing physical interventions for prevention of bone loss, restoration of normal bone density, halting the progression of osteoarthritis, the reversal of cartilage degeneration, and improving the rehabilitative course of orthopaedic techniques.

Pittsburgh, PA
The Center for Wheelchair and Related Technology focus on the design, development, and evaluation of new technologies to improve the mobility of physically impaired individuals. They have made important contributions towards the design of wheelchairs, seating systems, transportation systems, and novel approaches to the delivery of assistive technology.

Portland, OR
The National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research is the only VA national Center of Excellence dedicated to addressing the needs of veterans with auditory disorders. The center is a consortium of multi-disciplinary professionals conducting research to increase knowledge about auditory dysfunction and improve auditory rehabilitation for veterans with hearing loss.

Providence, RI
The Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine is a collaboration between the Providence VA Medical Center and Brown University. The mission of the Center is to improve function for individuals with limb trauma by developing technologically advanced solutions for restoration. The goal is to achieve this through state-of-the-art techniques in tissue engineering, orthopaedics, neurotechnology, prosthetic design and rehabilitation.

For more information please go to http://www.providence.va.gov/Research_Programs.asp.

Seattle, WA
The Center for Limb Loss Prevention and Prosthetic Engineering studies amputation prevention, lower limb prosthetic improvement, and patient outcome measurements. One of the first to routinely test aging veterans for diabetes, the leading cause of non-traumatic lower limb loss, the center has long been a resource for veterans with limb-at-risk and amputation-related problems.

Tampa, FL
The Center for Maximizing Rehabilitation Outcomes combines traditional health services and rehabilitation research approaches to advance the science of rehabilitation across multiple Veteran groups including Iraqi and Afghanistan servicemen and women, older adults and persons with spinal cord injury, amputations, and polytrauma. The focus is early detection and treatment of Veterans with subtle, delayed-onset, and overlapping symptoms, development of sensitive and clinically meaningful measurement tools, and testing rehabilitation interventions to promote safety, function, activity, community participation, and QOL, while reducing healthcare utilization and cost.

West Haven, CT
The Center of Excellence for Restoration of Nervous System Function (57 KB, PDF) focuses on multiple sclerosis (MS) and spinal cord injury (SCI) as well as neuropathic pain, stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

top