Office of Research & Development |
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The Military Exposures Research Program (MERP) is an Office of Research and Development (ORD) Initiative that aims to:
Through scientific advancement, MERP will contribute to national efforts that seek to inform Veteran care and policy.
Who does MERP help? – Millions of Veterans have encountered toxic agents. Lack of a nexus between exposure and health outcome(s) has been a barrier for Veterans to become eligible for VA care and disability benefits.
What is MERP? – Military Exposures Research Program (MERP) is an Actively Managed Portfolio (AMP) that was created to centralize management of and improve access to all VA Veteran exposure research.
How is MERP going to help? – MERP will generate high-quality evidence through military exposures research using Cores (see MERP information sheet), VA internal partnerships, and inter-agency coordination. MERP will utilize peer-reviewed research, ORD research enterprise resources, and PACT Act resources and collaboration opportunities.
MERP mission statement: The VA Military Exposures Research Program seeks to advance military exposure assessments and to understand the effects of military exposures on Veterans’ health outcomes to inform care and policy.
The Toxic Exposures Fund (TEF) for ORD has been allocated funds that are available for RFA’s, Career Development Awards (CDA’s), and administrative funding.
https://department.va.gov/financial-policy-documents/financial-document/chapter-12-toxic-exposures-fund/
Rudolph Johnson, PhD
MERP Director
Rudolph.Johnson3@va.gov
Shakeria Cohen, PhD
Shakeria.Cohen@va.gov
Particle Morphology and Elemental Analysis of Lung Tissue from Post-9/11 Military Personnel with Biopsy-Proven Lung Disease
Exposure to Gulf war illness-related chemicals exacerbates alcohol- induced liver damage in rodents - PubMed (nih.gov)
Frontotemporal disorders: the expansive panoply of syndromes and spectrum of etiologies - PubMed (nih.gov)
Chronic respiratory symptoms following deployment-related occupational and environmental exposures among US veterans - PubMed (nih.gov)
Susceptibility to radiation adverse effects in veterans with Gulf War illness and healthy civilians - PubMed (nih.gov)
Agent Orange Herbicidal Toxin-Initiation of Alzheimer-Type Neurodegeneration - PubMed (nih.gov)
Associations Between Self-Reported Burn Pit Exposure and Functional Status, 1990-2021 - PubMed (nih.gov)