b'VA Continues Long History of Industry Partnerships to Improve Veterans CareSAN DIEGOThe VA has long recognized the creativitypatientcharacteristicsandtumormutations,andshare and problem-solving power that comes from combiningdata to accelerate new treatment options.a diversity of perspectives with deep expertise. Often thedepartmenthasinternalresourcesthatfacilitateAdvanced Oncology Researchsolutions that improve care for veterans, but it has not shied away from reaching out to the private sector forManyorganizationshavesignedontohelptheVA assistance when that can yield better outcomes. On theimprove treatment for veterans with cancer and advance flip side, the VA has offered its massive health recordsoncologyresearch.SanfordHealthandphilanthropist databases and the broad knowledge of its clinicians toDenny Sanford extended free pharmacogenetics testing help industry develop and test potential treatments. to veterans who have survived cancer to better understand A partnership between the VA and Merck, for instance,whichmedicationsaremosteffectiveforindividuals led to the approval of the shingles vaccine 15 years ago.withspecificgeneticprofiles.ThePharmacogenomics The original Shingles Prevention Study was conductedActionforCancerSurvivorshiporPHASeRprogram and funded by VAs Cooperativewillalsoprovideinformation Studies Program in collaborationtohelpclinicianspredict withtheNationalInstitutesofSince March, the VAhow a patient will respond to HealthNationalInstituteofothermedications,including Allergy and Infectious Diseases.has tapped its vibrantantidepressantsandopioids. Merck supplied the vaccine andprivate sector networkUltimately,theprogramwill additionalfundingcamefrombenefit 250,000 veterans at 125 MerckandtheJamesR.Andto secure personalVA sites. Jesse V. Scott Fund for Shinglesprotective equipmentThiswillbethelargest Research.pharmacogenetic testing effort While Merck received the Prixfor frontline healthcareinthecountrybyordersof GalienUSAAwardforBestmagnitude,saidDeepak BiotechnologyProductfortheprofessionals andVoora,MD,directorofthe vaccine in 2013, the real winnerspromising treatmentsPHASeRprogram,associate were the thousands of veteransprofessorofmedicine,and and other older individuals whofor veterans who haveexecutive member of the Center weresparedtheexcruciatingcontracted COVID-19.forAppliedGenomicsand nervepainassociatedwithPrecisionMedicineatDuke postherpeticneuralgia,whichUniversity School of Medicine. can last from two weeks to yearsWehavethepotentialto after shingles occurs. The vaccine reduced the incidenceimprove patient care for each veteran we test, and the of postherpetic neuralgia by nearly 70%. scale of the effort will allow us to see trends and conduct For some people, shingles can ruin their retirement andresearch that could improve medical care for the entire their lives. In the area of the body where the shingles rashpopulation. occurred, just the touch of a shirt can be very painful. IfBristol-MyersSquibbFoundationfunded10lung you have shingles on your head, even a breeze can becancer screening centers as part of the VA Partnership intolerably painful, said the studys lead investigator,to Increase Access to Lung Screening (VA-PALS). In Michael Oxman, MD, an infectious disease specialist ataddition to $6 million for clinical trial research and the the San Diego VA Healthcare System and professor ofscreening centers, the program includes a $4.5 million medicine and pathology at the University of California- cloud-based management system/teleoncology system San Diego. to monitor veterans who have had the screening. More The VAs Precision Oncology Program (POP) providesthan 900,000 veterans are at risk of lung cancer, and anotherexampleofcooperationwithindustryfor7,700 are diagnosed with the disease each year.clinical trials. Part of the White Houses National CancerIBM Watson donated 10,000 genomics studies to the VA Moonshot initiative, POP brings VA and industry leadersto assist the departments oncologists in selecting targeted together to increase clinical trial participation for targetedtherapy for patients. What we use IBM Watson to help us cancertherapeutics,buildanationalVAdatabaseofdo is to bring knowledge focused on this patients results, 6 THE VALUE OF THE PARTNERSHIP: Industry and the Federal Customer Working Together'