Voices of VA Research Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Addressing homelessness in Veteran populations Aug 22, 2017

Show notes

Erica Sprey of VA Research Communications speaks with Dr. Jack Tsai, clinical psychologist and researcher at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and the New England Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) in West Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Tsai's research focuses on addressing and improving outreach and services for homeless Veterans, so that they can successfully live in independent housing.
Read more: Improving services for homeless Veterans

Researcher seeks answers to brain disorder in deceased Veterans, athletes Aug 01, 2017

Show notes

Mike Richman of VA Research Communications interviews Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at the VA Boston Healthcare System, about her research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. The degenerative brain disease has been found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma and can only be diagnosed posthumously. Dr. McKee, one of the top CTE experts in the country, has found traces of CTE in the brains of former athletes, mostly football players, and Veterans. Both groups are susceptible to head trauma and concussions.

Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) Jul 11, 2017

Show notes

Mitch Mirkin of VA Research Communications interviews Dr. Amy Kilbourne, director of VA's Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), about the program's history and current work and how it is impacting Veterans' care. The goal of QUERI is to support the implementation of research findings into everyday clinical services within the VA health care system.

Using mindfulness to combat heart disease in women Veterans Jun 14, 2017

Show notes

Erica Sprey of VA Research Communications speaks with Dr. Karen Saban, a research scientist at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Saban is currently investigating the ways that stress can cause inflammation in the body, which can potentially lead to inflammatory-related conditions like heart disease. She is currently investigating the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques to reduce the risk of heart disease in women Veterans.
Read more: Using mindfulness to combat stress-related heart disease in women Veterans

OpenNotes in Mental Health Care May 19, 2017

Show notes

Mitch Mirkin of VA Research Communications speaks with Dr. Steven Dobscha, director of the Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care, based at the VA Portland Health Care System, about his group's research into OpenNotes, which allows patients to view the notes their clinicians write about their health care visits. The team recently studied the use of OpenNotes for Veterans receiving mental health care in VA.
Read more: What happens when patients access their mental health providers' notes?

Emotional Effects on Military Personnel, Veterans Bereaved by Suicide Apr 19, 2017

Show notes

Mike Richman of VA Research Communications interviews Dr. Peter Gutierrez, a clinical research psychologist with the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, about his study that finds military personnel and Veterans bereaved by suicide may themselves be at elevated suicide risk. The study looks at how active-duty service members and Veterans react when someone they are close with dies by suicide. Dr. Gutierrez is also co-director of the Military Suicide Research Consortium, a DoD-funded body that investigates the causes and prevention of suicide.
Read more: Suicide exposure leaves emotional scars on Vets, service members

Brief Interventions for Substance Use Disorders in Veterans with Hep C Apr 19, 2017

Show notes

Erica Sprey of VA Research Communications speaks with Dr. Michael Cucciare, associate director for research training at the south central MIRECC in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Cucciare is the principle investigator for the VA-funded study "Web-based Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use in Veterans with Hepatitis C," which is part of a larger CREATE initiative that will study care innovations for substance use disorders in the VA.
Read more: Improving care for Veterans with substance use disorders

Long-Term Study of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Mar 15, 2017

Show notes

Mitch Mirkin of VA Research Communication interviews Dr. William Walker, of the Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium, about a major study that will enroll at least 1,100 service members and Veterans who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. The goal is to learn more about mild traumatic brain injury and how it can be best evaluated, and perhaps prevented and treated. The study aims to track the outcomes of TBI, and related health issues, for at least 20 years.
Read more: VA-Defense study aims to track mild TBI over decades

Needs of Veterans with Traumatic Upper-Limb Amputations Mar 02, 2017

Show notes

Mike Richman of VA Research Communications interviews Dr. Linda Resnik, a research scientist at the VA Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island, about her study on evaluating the needs of Veterans with traumatic upper-limb amputations. She has long been researching prosthetic technologies and the outcomes for upper-limb prosthesis users at VA and Defense medical sites—and in academia. DoD is funding Dr. Resnik's study, which will be the largest and most comprehensive study of Veterans and service members with upper-limb amputations.
Read more: Study to explore needs of upper-limb amputees

Substance Use Disorders in the Veteran Population Feb 09, 2017

Show notes

Erica Sprey of VA Research Communications speaks with Dr. Keith Humphreys, associate director for the Veterans Health Administration's Center for Innovation to Implementation in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Humphreys is a national expert on substance use disorders. In this interview, he discusses the prevalence of substance use disorders in the Veteran population and how they differ from those in the general population.
Read more: Improving care for Veterans with substance use disorders