VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP)

The VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP) is the part of VA’s Office of Research and Development responsible for the planning and conduct of large multicenter clinical trials and epidemiological studies in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This award-winning and internationally recognized program provides evidence-based data toward the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of serious medical and health conditions. CSP has performed more than 200 research studies that have influenced how physicians treat patients in areas that include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infectious diseases, and mental health conditions. In more than 80 VA medical centers across the country, VA CSP investigators continue their search for the safest and most effective ways to help Veterans.

Mission

The CSP mission is to advance the health of Veterans through cooperative research studies that produce innovative and effective solutions to Veteran and national health care problems. We do this through a comprehensive, rigorous and quality-based approach that confronts important clinical questions.

Through collaborative efforts within VA and with other federal, international, university, and private industry partners, CSP accomplishments have included key research findings across a range of diseases and have helped to provide definitive evidence for clinical practice within VA and the nation. From its initial beginnings in the 1940s, CSP continues to be a national and international leader in clinical research.

Research Network

While CSP operates under the management of the VA Central Office in Washington, D.C. it is comprised of professional experts at five data & statistical coordinating centers, four epidemiological resource centers, and a clinical research pharmacy coordinating center. These coordinating centers provide support to the 80 medical centers across the country hosting clinical trials for Veterans.

All CSP centers are governed by the same quality policy: To improve Veteran and national healthcare by conducting cooperative research studies that are well-designed, produce high quality data, protect research participants and comply with applicable requirements and standards, while continuously improving the quality management system.

CSP often partners with the VA Health Economics Resource Center to perform economic analyses on its clinical trials. Additionally, CSP frequently collaborates with experts outside of VA to maximize the impact on health care for Veterans as a whole, including: the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), university affiliates, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, and non-profit organizations. CSP also has international partnerships in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

For more information about VA CSP please visit https://www.vacsp.research.va.gov/.

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