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MVP hits milestone: 100,000th Veteran enrolled

thumbnail MVP rolling along—VA's Million Veteran Program recently enrolled its 100,000th Veteran. Here, at an earlier stage of the study, Dr. Pantel Vokonas (left) enrolls in the study at the VA Boston Healthcare System with research assistant Shelley Amberg. Vokonas, a cardiologist for VA, served with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps in Vietnam. (Photo by Frank Curran)

Last month a Veteran in Milwaukee became the 100,000th person nationwide to enroll in VA's Million Veteran Program, or MVP.

The study was launched in 2011. It expects to have enrolled up to a million Veterans within the next few years. With its 100,000th enrollee so far, MVP already tops the enrollment of any single VA study or research program in the past.

MVP aims to build a huge database of health, military, and genetic information. The goal is to help researchers learn more about how genes impact health. Health information and DNA samples collected through MVP are stored securely and made available to authorized researchers. VA has put tight safeguards in place to protect Veterans' personal information.

As researchers delve into MVP data over the coming years, they will look for insights into new treatments and preventive measures. They will also seek to learn how to use genetic tests to predict which patients will respond best to which therapies.

VA Chief Research and Development Officer Dr. Joel Kupersmith called MVP "an extremely important partnership that could not have been possible without our altruistic Veteran volunteers."

Local MVP milestones are also being marked. Air Force Veteran Robert Arrington, for instance, became the 5,000th MVP enrollee at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston on Oct. 31. "I received a pamphlet about the Million Veteran Program from the Lufkin VA clinic [north of Houston] and decided to participate in the study because I thought it might be beneficial to other Veterans," said Arrington. "The more informed the doctors are, the better they can do their job."

For the latest information on MVP, including a list of the 40 VA medical centers that are now enrolling Veterans in the study, visit www.research.va.gov/mvp.



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Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.