Program areas at PAVIR
All of Us Research Program. Principal investigators: Philip Tsao, Ph.D. and Jennifer Lee, M.D., Ph.D.The All of Us Research Program (All of Us) is a large collaborative initiative sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All of Us includes a consortium of awardees from multiple institutions, including the Department of Veterans Affairs. All of Us is working to improve healthcare through research by building a diverse database of participant self-report information, biospecimens, and Electronic Health Records that can inform future research on a variety of health conditions. VA participation in All of Us is overseen by three Co-PIs, located at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System and the VA Boston Healthcare System. These two institutions serve as the Coordinating Centers for all participating VA sites, providing leadership and oversight. There are currently 19 VA active recruitment sites for the program. All centralized recruitment, engagement campaigns, and compliance with program requirements is managed by the VA PIs and their respective Coordinating Center teams.
Exploring Epigenetic Rejuvenation across Time and Space. Principal investigator: Thomas Rando, M.D., Ph.D. This program is a research program to discover biological pathways of aging that can be experimentally manipulated to rejuvenate cells and tissues in the body. We will use state-of-the-art technologies to engineer muscles in old mice to restore them to a more youthful state. We will evaluate the success of that process by measuring muscle functions that change with age. To the extent that we are successful in rejuvenating the aged muscle, we will evaluate the impact that has on cells and tissues throughout the body by factors secreted by muscle that travel in the blood to other tissues and organs. At the same time, we will measure biochemical changes in the cells that are known to be associated with aging. It is our hypothesis that those biochemical changes, mostly related to DNA in the nuclei of cells, will also be rejuvenated, The long term impact of these studies will be to develop new treatments for age-related diseases that affect Veterans.
Intestinal Lymphocyte Trafficking. Principal investigator: Eugene Butcher, M.D.The Intestinal Lymphocyte Trafficking program is a multi-year research study that started in 2007. The objectives of this program are 1) to define the molecular and genetic mechanisms that control immune cell migration to the small and large intestines, 2) to elucidate how these genes and mechanisms control infection or contribute to disease, 3) to uncover improved approaches to monitor or induce mucosal immune responses (i.e. for vaccination against infectious diseases), and 4) new therapeutic possibilities that could lead to treatments for inflammatory bowel and allergic diseases of the GI tract. During the current period, there was a discovery of a novel lung and upper GI tract trafficking program (novel chemoattractant receptor ligand pair). This discovery promises to have broad importance for upper GI (stomach), airway, and lung immunobiology. The study has yielded 25 peer reviewed manuscripts, 2 of which were in the last year. Additionally, presentations at both national and international meetings were made to share the progress of this study.
PAVIR is privileged to work with a large community of uniquely talented medical researchers across a broad spectrum of research areas as we fulfill our mission of advancing Veterans and public health through innovative research. The range of research activities is broad and includes special emphasis on major disease categories, all of which are prevalent in the VA's patient population. These include cardiovascular medicine, mental health, chronic inflammatory disease, stem cell/regenerative medicine, pain, sleep disorders, and many others. In addition to disease specific research, PAVIR is engaged in supporting research aimed at enhancing health care. PAVIR's research portfolio includes comparative studies in which research teams are learning which treatments are superior to others, how to augment or improve standard of care, as well as how to enhance the operation of health care. Furthermore, PAVIR is supporting educational activities, especially in areas of advancing clinical care for Veterans and fostering the professional development of our expert staff.