Research & Development - US Department of Veterans Affairs

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"VA Research has been, and always will be, at the forefront of innovation"
For 100 years, the Veterans Affairs (VA) Research and Development program has been improving the lives of Veterans and all Americans through health care discovery and innovation.

: Extreme temperatures may be able to build better bones.VA researchers found sintering can be used to improve bone reg...
06/12/2026

: Extreme temperatures may be able to build better bones.
VA researchers found sintering can be used to improve bone regeneration. Researchers from found sintering can be used to improve bone regeneration. Sintering is the process of compacting material by pressure or heat, often used in ceramics. Fluorapatite (FAp) is a calcium phosphate mineral containing fluoride, primarily used in bone tissue engineering and regeneration. FAp scaffolds provide a porous, biodegradable structure to support new bone growth but are usually not strong enough to be load-bearing. The researchers sintered gel-cast FAp scaffolds with 50%, 60%, and 70% porosity at temperatures of either 1050°C, 1150°C, or 1250°C, achieving compressive strengths of 5-13 megapascals, roughly 725-1,885 psi. The team believes they can further optimize the process before it is ready for human trials, but it is a promising discovery to help Veterans with critical bone defects return to normalcy.
https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258412

: New study guides AI development for health apps.Researchers developed several considerations for health intervention ...
06/10/2026

: New study guides AI development for health apps.
Researchers developed several considerations for health intervention apps. Researchers from VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System worked with other researchers to develop several considerations for health intervention apps. Reinforcement learning algorithms help app-based interventions to determine the best times to send reminder notifications, personalized for the user, to encourage positive changes in health behavior. In particular, this study looked at a recent trial of a sodium reduction app to identify challenges, and their solutions, during the deployment of online algorithms in clinical trials. Their work to balance personalization and computer learning with computation ability and robustness contributes to the growing body of literature on AI development. (via ScienceDirect May 28, 2026)


https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258411

: Veterans have better lung cancer survival rates with VA.Delivering lung cancer care within an integrated system leads...
06/08/2026

: Veterans have better lung cancer survival rates with VA.
Delivering lung cancer care within an integrated system leads to greater and faster improvements for Veteran survival rates. researchers compared nearly 1.5 million Veterans treated for lung cancer to find overall survival rates more than doubled from 2007 to 2019. For Veterans using VA, the three-year survival increased from 24% to 51%, and Veterans using community care showed an increase of 24% to 41%. Non-small cell lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the U.S., but VA's efforts to increase screening, to catch the cancer early and when it is most treatable, continue to yield positive results. The research team concluded that when lung cancer care is delivered within an integrated, publicly funded system it leads to greater and faster improvements for Veteran survival rates across the entire health care environment.

https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258410

"Veterans helping one another is the antidote." —Dr. Marianne GoodmanHer group safety planning program, Project Life For...
06/03/2026

"Veterans helping one another is the antidote." —Dr. Marianne Goodman

Her group safety planning program, Project Life Force, could reduce Veteran su***de by 40% nationwide. That's about 2,700 lives a year, based on a new VA randomized trial.

PLF brings high-risk Veterans together for 10 sessions to build their safety plans as a group. They practice the hard conversations. They add names of people who've agreed to be called. They staple reasons for living to the back. By the end, the plan isn't a piece of paper a clinician handed them at discharge. It's something they built together.

Read how Dr. Goodman and her team built it, and meet the Veterans now running groups of their own: https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0626-When-Veterans-Save-Each-Other.cfm

Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1.


https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0626-When-Veterans-Save-Each-Other.cfm

: Potential new skin cancer treatment identified.William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital and University of Wisc...
06/02/2026

: Potential new skin cancer treatment identified.
William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital and University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers identified a potential new treatment option for melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Researchers first learned that an enzyme called SIRT3 is essential to the life cycle of melanoma cancer cells. Then, using tissue samples and mouse models, they showed that blocking SIRT3 production reduced tumor growth and cell colony formation. Furthermore, applying a compound that inhibited both SIRT3 and the related enzyme SIRT1 significantly decreased tumor volume and weight, suggesting combined targeting of these two enzymes could be a promising new therapeutic target for this deadly form of skin cancer.


https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258406

: Adding physical therapy to care teams improves resultsResearchers at VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System integrate...
05/29/2026

: Adding physical therapy to care teams improves results
Researchers at VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System integrated physical therapy into primary care to reduce burden and increase care participation for Veterans with chronic pain or mobility issues. The researchers interviewed Veterans and VA staff from a pilot program that added physical therapy to the clinics' patient-aligned care teams. Participants reported increased access to physical therapy, reduced wait times, and less transportation burden to attend therapy. The service also allowed Veterans to try conservative interventions for pain before resorting to surgery and enabled greater continuation of VA care without community care referrals, particularly in rural areas where physical therapy options may be limited. Veterans also reported high satisfaction with the program. The findings highlight how including physical therapists in primary care teams can decrease barriers to care and improve Veterans' well-being. (Journal of General Internal Medicine, May 12, 2026)

https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258408

: Current artificial lung technology is highly prone to dangerous blood clotting where synthetic material comes into co...
05/29/2026

: Current artificial lung technology is highly prone to dangerous blood clotting where synthetic material comes into contact with natural tissue. Researchers at VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System developed a 3D-printable, silicone-based resin that mimics biological conditions to address this problem. When exposed to freshly drawn blood, the new material reduced clotting area over currently available resins by between 58% and 65%. This resin could potentially reduce the need for systemic anticoagulation use with artificial lungs, which carries the risk of severe bleeding events, and could increase the artificial lung device's lifetime. Published in Langmuir, May 19, 2026.


https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258407

: Researchers with the VA Advanced Platform Technology Center piloted an exercise program that used virtual reality to ...
05/26/2026

: Researchers with the VA Advanced Platform Technology Center piloted an exercise program that used virtual reality to make neuromuscular electrical stimulation more engaging, improving Veterans’ heart rates and exercise efforts. Electrical stimulation can contract paralyzed muscles following a spinal cord injury, improving overall health, but is often boring for the Veteran. The researchers created a game in which the user rowed a virtual boat to keep pace with a goose flying overhead, attempting to catch dropped eggs. Both paralyzed Veteran volunteers found the electrical stimulation-assisted rowing to be more engaging and producing better results than when completing the exercise alone, suggesting this approach could improve engagement with electrical stimulation-assisted exercise and improve the cardiovascular fitness of Veterans with spinal cord injury. (American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, May 1, 2026)


https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258403

: Atlanta VA researchers learned diabetes medications may lower the risk of death from pulmonary hypertension, a seriou...
05/22/2026

: Atlanta VA researchers learned diabetes medications may lower the risk of death from pulmonary hypertension, a serious condition involving high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. In a group of more than 41,000 Veterans with both pulmonary hypertension and diabetes, those taking metformin survived about 20% longer, while those on thiazolinedione survived 18% longer. Conversely, Veterans taking insulin had a 28% higher mortality risk. Analysis suggested the improved survival was influenced by better kidney and lung function and was not dependent on how well a patient’s diabetes was controlled. The results indicate therapies targeting metabolism may be promising treatments for pulmonary hypertension. (Pulmonary Circulation, May 4, 2026 PMID: 42088614)


https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258405

: The VA Veteran Sponsorship Initiative (VSI) is a public-private partnership between federal and community partners th...
05/22/2026

: The VA Veteran Sponsorship Initiative (VSI) is a public-private partnership between federal and community partners that provides VA-certified, volunteer, peer sponsors and connection to community services. VA researchers assessed more than 1,000 active-duty Soldiers who transitioned out of the military in 2023, half of whom participated in VSI. Those in the VSI program were 2% less likely to have a su***de attempt and 20% more likely to use VA primary care within 10 months of leaving the Army. The findings demonstrate that VSI can be a valuable tool to support Veterans during the transition to civilian life. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Apr. 17, 2026)


https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/news_brief.cfm?RecordID=258399

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