Standing Ready

VA’s first cardiology lab was established at the Washington DC hospital in 1935. Since then, VA has been a leader in developing groundbreaking surgical techniques, conducting hypertension studies, and home to pioneering cardiologist, Dr. Michael DeBakey. Katie and Shawn end season 2 with a look at cardiology’s past and future at VA in conversation with Dr. Josef Stehlik, Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He is Co-Chief of the Advanced Heart Failure section and Medical Director of the Heart Transplant Program at the University of Utah Health Center and the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center.

Part two of our look at cancer research at VA includes a conversation with Dr. Khalil Ahmend, Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Ahmed has been a Senior Research Career Scientist, Minneapolis VA since 1978. For over forty years, Dr. Ahmed’s long-standing interest has been in protein CK2 (formerly casein kinase 2 or II). He investigation of its therapeutic targeting for cancer therapy and how treatments might be effective for stopping progression to resistant growth or improving response setting the stage for potential ground-breaking translation into the clinic.

VA’s first tumor laboratory was established at the Hines VA Hospital. Since then, VA has gone on to become a lead in cancer care, establishing studies, linking cigarette smoking with cancer, and creating breakthroughs for veterans and the world. Katie and Shawn sit in a two-part conversation with two of VA’s most respected leaders and researchers: Dr. Michael Kelly, professor of Medicine at Duke University and Chief Oncology at the Durham VA Medical Center.  As National Program Director for Oncology for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Kelley directs policy and program development that affect the more than 50,000 Veterans diagnosed with cancer each year.

VA hospitals and the nation’s top medical schools have been linked together since 1946 and since then VA health has benefited immensely from the research and teaching talents of these hospitals while also training 70 percent of the nation’s medical workforce. In this episode, Katie and Shawn delve again into this program’s fascinating past while looking to the future of medical training. 

Katie and Shawn are pleased to welcome Dr. Sumitra Muralidhar the Executive Director of the Million Veteran Program (MVP). Over ten years old now, MVP is truly history in the making. MVP is a national research program to learn how genes, lifestyle, and military exposures affect health and illness. Since launching in 2011, over 870,000 Veteran partners have joined one of the world's largest programs on genetics and health. Dr. Muralidhar oversees the policy and infrastructure development for the collection and use of samples and genetic, clinical, lifestyle and military exposure data from one million Veterans. 

In this episode of Standing Ready, Katie and Shawn explore the evolution of VA medical devices throughout history. Our conversation with guest Dr. Rory Cooper explores his career as a VA senior research career scientist at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories which includes the VA Center for Wheelchairs and Assistive Robotics Engineering. As a paralyzed Veteran himself, Cooper has dedicated his career to improving  the lives of paralyzed Veterans and Cooper holds 25 patents in wheelchair technology. He is the inventor of many advanced mobility devices and assistive technologies. Among these are MEBot, a stair-climbing wheelchair; PneuChair, a wheelchair powered entirely by compressed air; and Virtual Seating Coach, a smartphone app to control power wheelchair seating systems He is the author of two books: "Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility and Manipulation” and “Wheelchair Selection and Configuration”, and co-editor of “An Introduction to Rehabilitation Engineering”, “Warrior Transition Leader: Medical Rehabilitation Handbook” and the award winning book “Care of the Combat Amputee”.

On this episode, we talk with the Acting Director of Communications for the Office of Research and Development, Mitch Mirkin. We explore a macro view of the role VA has played in current, past, and present medical innovations, as well as discuss Mitch's role in ORD.

Welcome to the Standing Ready Season One Finale! “Competitive Adaptative: A History of Sports in the VA” a look at the past, present, and future of adaptive sports within VA. From the very beginning of federal health care for Veterans at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, sports have played a role in the healing and rehabilitation. Starting with baseball and golf after the Civil War, to the origins of wheelchair basketball after the Second World War, athletics have grown to encompass a number of new sports and serves as therapy for veterans with limb loss, spinal cord injury, post-traumatic stress, and a number of other disabilities. It has also grown its own communities of support as Veterans are brought together by sports to learn and heal. Katie and Shawn speak with Lief Nelson, Director of VA’s Adaptive Sports Program and learn insights into the origins of the program and its history within VA while also learning about some exciting innovations moving the program forward. Finally, we are honored to hear the story of Veteran and Paralympian Kyle Pitman. From his time in Iraq and his journey towards the Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, we gain insights into how cycling has fueled his rehabilitation and what it means to him to continue this long held tradition of Veteran athletes.

A look at how volunteers have built communities of care and support throughout history and continue to meet the needs of Veterans today. Today’s Veterans Health Administration traces its roots back to 1865 as the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. These homes were the first residences for the nation’s sick and disabled volunteer soldiers of the Civil War. Their establishment was largely through the efforts of U.S. Sanitary Commission, a private volunteer relief agency, to support sick and wounded soldiers that included the ranks of Red Cross founder Clara Barton and Walt Whitman among others. In 1946, General Omar Bradley modernized and transformed the Veterans Administration and established the VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) which has grown and evolved into today’s Center for Development & Civic Engagement (CDCE). This organization remains one of the largest volunteer programs in the federal government. Katie and Shawn talk with Sabrina Clark and Prince Taylor about how volunteer efforts that are deeply rooted in history are still evolving and how they have been shaped by the COVID 19 pandemic.

Welcome to Standing Ready Episode 4 “Battlefields of Bureaucracy” An insightful discussion with Acting Undersecretary of Health, Dr. Richard Stone on the 75th Anniversary of the Veterans Health Administration. In 1946 when VHA was founded, the VA was facing serious challenges with providing health care for 16 million new Veterans. Today, 75 years later, the VA faces an entirely different health care challenge associated with responding to the COVID 19 pandemic. Dr. Stone reflects how has history inspired and challenged him, recalling VA’s first medical director Dr. Hawley and the challenges he faced in dealing with bureaucracy in order to ensure the best possible health care for Veterans. We also dig into what the future holds for VHA and Dr. Stone shares some of the exciting initiatives and innovations VHA is working towards.