‘Genomics, Health Equity and You’: 2024 Veterans Research Town Hall
The next ‘Veterans Research Town Hall’ from the VA’s Veterans Community Advisory Board is a hybrid event, to be held May 14th with the Philadelphia Research and Education Foundation.
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AS OF THE END OF 2023, MORE THAN A MILLION a million Veterans who had signed up for the Million Veteran Program, a genetic database—touted by the VA as the largest database of its kind in the world. The MVP wants to expand well beyond a million Vets. The program directly impacts Veteran health and wellness efforts through a short survey and a simple drop of your blood for genetic research.
All MVP data excludes names and dates of birth, and MVP clinicians never use names or other identifiable personal information, though they may contact you in the future about participating in research. At the Town Hall, we’ll discuss what this all means from a health equity perspective, and begin to answer the question, “For Veterans who have signed up for the Million Veteran Program, how is that blood being used?”
On May 14th, 2024, the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VAMC's Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) and its Veterans Community Advisory Board (VCAB), in partnership with the Philadelphia Research and Education Foundation (PREF), will convene a combination in-person and online Research Town Hall to examine the issues faced by researchers and clinicians dealing with Veterans-involved genetics and testing for diseases and disorders.
There’s a lot to talk about!
The MVP goes hand-in-hand with successful efforts over the past decade to shift all Veterans’ medical records to electronic format, to more easily access information for research. In the end, joining MVP means you are helping your fellow Veterans. It’s a way of continuing to serve your country.
CHERP’s Veterans Community Advisory Board
The VCAB is made up of Veterans, like you, and they are working hard to promote holistic Veteran healthcare. This starts with spreading awareness among Veterans and researchers of the health equity issues that affect Veteran health and how to address them in the VA health system. “The voice of Veterans is often lost in research,” former VCAB Chair, Chuck Maxwell noted. “As a result, solutions developed may not meet the needs of patients. Patients and the public have come to feel disconnected from the goals of research.” With this in mind, the VCAB, in partnership with PREF and the Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, present the Veterans Research Town Hall: ‘Genomics, Health Equity and You,’ May 14, 2024, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT.
This hybrid event (in person at the Crescenz VA Multipurpose Room and online over WebEx) will focus on Genomic biomedical research at VA and the importance of Veteran voices in VA research. Following brief presentations from Veterans, VA researchers and others about Genomics, Veterans will have an opportunity to ask questions that are important to them and to learn more about upcoming active research studies.
To attend online, register now! https://veteransaffairs.webex.com/weblink/register/rb34180de91decfd7877a67c9d40acdb8.
Get Involved! VCAB Seeking members!
The Veterans Community Advisory Board in Philadelphia is looking for new members! If you want to engage with Veterans and identify with the CHERP VCAB’s mission, “To advise, foster relationships, and contribute experience and input to CHERP Leadership and Researchers in order to promote health, healthcare, and health equity for the Veteran Community,” contact CHERPVCAB@gmail.com today!
(Above) Former VCAB board member Anna Stormer asks a question of a speaker at the 2019 Veterans Research Town Hall.