Philadelphia VA Medical Center

About the Program

PVAMC has major research activities involving more than 100 investigators and technicians.  All major clinical disciplines are represented in over 250 research projects.  Medical Research Services at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center reported more than $29 million in research expenditures for the last year. This ranked Philadelphia VAMC 12th nationally in research funding among all VA's.

In May 2005, the Philadelphia VA Research & Development program received a three-year renewal and full accreditation status in human subjects' protection from the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA). The program also holds full accreditation status from the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) until March 2008.
 
The areas that are most highly represented in the research program at the present time include:

• Health Services Research and Outcomes Research with emphasis on equitable access to health care
• infectious diseases including Hepatitis C and HIV; immunologic disorders and immunology of disease
• Sleep medicine
• Behavioral medicine with specific interest in addiction disorders
• Neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and traumatic brain injury.

Areas of active study that are in development include metabolic disorders and research into oncologic treatment modalities.
 
Support for a number of these research efforts stems from the four Centers of Excellence: Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center (PADRECC), Mental Health Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Center for Health Equities Research and Practice (CHERP), and the Regional Sleep Center.

Patient Care Services is also involved in a variety of research activities, including chronic pain management, PTSD, chronic disease management and tele-health services, patient safety, complementary and alternative health care practices, and self-care in heart failures.  Nurse investigators work collaboratively with PVAMC research centers and groups, such as the MIRECC, the CHERP, the Sleep Center, and the Pain Service research team. 

In addition, research activities between Penn School of Nursing and PVAMC nursing have increased dramatically.  These include partnerships in clinical studies, in pre-doctoral and postdoctoral training opportunities for nursing students, in research workshops, in the preparation of grant applications for VA and NIH funding, and in the recently funded TEACH grant.  The purpose of the TEACH initiative, a grant funded by the VA Office of Nursing Services, is to develop innovative partnerships between local VA facilities and schools of nursing, as recommended by the National Commission on VA Nursing.  The grant represents an innovative partnership between PVAMC Nursing and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, drawing on the strengths and resources of both institutions.
 
Research in the next five years is expected to concentrate in the areas of Hepatitis C, neurodegenerative disorders, immunologic diseases, infectious diseases, sleep disorders, Parkinson disease and other movement disorders, rhinosinusitis, myelodysplastic syndrome, addiction disorders, psychiatric basis of clinical diseases, behavioral health of dual diagnoses, Health Services Research in racial and social disparities, cardiovascular research, pain management, hematology/oncology and metabolic disease.