VA Boston Healthcare System

From right: Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald; Terence M. Keane Ph.D., Director of the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD,; and Theresa (Terri) Gleason, the Acting Director of the Clinical Science Research & Development Service (CSR&D, pose for a picture at the VA Boston Healthcare system January 15, 2016. McDonald presented Keane with the John Blair Barnwell Award. The award is the Veterans Health Administrations Clinical Science Research & Development’s (CSR&D) highest honor for outstanding achievement in clinical research.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald visited the VA Boston Healthcare System’s Jamaica Plain campus to highlight traumatic brain injury (TBI), mental health, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research January 15, 2016. These conditions are the signature wounds of the current wars.

VA Boston is home to the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD, and the Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders (TRACTS).

Boston has one of the largest and most active research programs in the VA System nation-wide receiving approximately $61 million dollars in funding in 2014. Approximately $41 million was provided by the Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Research and Development (ORD).

Award winning research

While in Boston, McDonald presented Terence M. Keane Ph.D., Director of the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD, with the John Blair Barnwell Award. The award is the Veterans Health Administrations Clinical Science Research & Development’s (CSR&D) highest honor for outstanding achievement in clinical research.

To make sure everyone understood the award’s magnitude, CSR&D’s Acting Director, Theresa Gleason said, “It’s a really big deal! Terry has set the gold standard for the Barnwell Award.”

The award recognizes Keane’s exemplary record of service to veterans and to the clinical profession, as well as his landmark contributions to the field of traumatic stress studies, and specifically, PTSD.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald discusses how CTE, a progressive degenerative brain disease, affects athletes and service members who experienced repeated head trauma and blast injuries with Dr. Ann McKee, Chief of Neuropathology, VA Boston Healthcare System January 15, 2016.

Traumatic Brain Injury

McDonald also met with TBI expert Dr. Ann McKee, Chief of Neuropathology, VA Boston Healthcare System, and Professor of Neurology and Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine. McKee is most notably a leading expert in the field of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease found among athletes and service members who experienced repeated head trauma and blast injuries. Together, VA and BU conduct research that is extremely important to the future of mental health for many veterans and civilians.

During their talk about what CTE does to the brains of athletes and Veterans, McDonald a veteran himself, talked about his experiences boxing at the U.S. Military Academy, and playing youth football.

CTE is diagnosed after someone has died and donated their brain to a research center like the BU CTE Center. McDonald asked McKee if there is way to diagnose this disease in a living person, and learned the answer is no.

The discussion then turned to how researchers could advance science so that one day clinicians will be able to diagnose this disease and treat the living in order to create a better future for veterans and athletes of all ages.

After discussing some ideas of how McDonald could leverage support for further research McKee said, “I’m very excited about our possibilities.”

Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald speaks to packed audience of nursing, mental health students, and social work interns about how VA advances science, helps veterans and society to encourage them to work at the VA System during his visit January 15, 2016.

Recruiting future doctors, nurses and mental health professionals

McDonald took the opportunity to speak with nursing, mental health students, and social work interns about how VA advances science, helps veterans and society to encourage them to work at the VA. He also talked about how many medical school students graduate owing as much as $185,000, and how the VA can reduce that amount over five years by $120,000 depending on the conditions of their employment.

McDonald also explained how the VA synthesizes research, clinical care and education to create a learning healthcare system with the goal of becoming the number one customer service agency in the federal government.

Groundbreaking research

During his visit, McDonald toured the biorepository where the Million Veteran Program (MVP) DNA samples are stored. MVP is a genetic research program that aims 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 by collecting and studying the DNA of one million veterans.

Last week, McDonald became the 441,196th veteran to join the innovative research program that seeks to become the largest study of genes and health in the world.

Combining data gleaned from genetic analysis with information collected from the VA Electronic Medical Record (EMR) will help investigators determine how genetic and lifestyle factors interact to affect health outcomes. MVP is partnering with the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative and the National Institutes of Health.