In This Issue

Key Findings

Study finds 'observation' as effective as surgery in early prostate cancer

A major federal study led by VA researchers found no difference in survival between men with early-stage prostate cancer who had their prostate surgically removed and those who were simply watched by their doctors, with treatment only as needed to address symptoms if they occurred...

Study links gene to PTSD risk

Based on DNA analysis on hundreds of trauma-exposed Veterans and other volunteers, researchers with VA and Boston University have pinpointed a gene variant they say substantially increases the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder...

Technology horizons

For a new generation of cancer drugs, scientists look to targeted nanomedicine

A team at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and the University of Minnesota is developing a form of smart chemotherapy they think holds special promise. It relies on a capsule so small that 40,000 of them could fit on the head of a pin ...

Ongoing research

Healing words: Study looks at the power of expressive writing to aid in Veterans' readjustment

VA researchers are studying the power of expressive writing to help Veterans readjust...

Journal Scan

Couple therapy helps with PTSD

A clinical trial conducted by psychologists at the Boston VA Healthcare System and a university research center in Toronto found benefits from a 15-session therapy program for couples in which one partner had posttraumatic stress disorder...

Vitamin D and prostate cancer

Investigators at the Charleston VA Medical Center and the Medical University of South Carolina have seen encouraging, if somewhat mixed, results so far from research on the effects of vitamin D supplementation on men with low-risk prostate cancer ...

Hormone boosts resistance to obesity

In a recent review article, researchers with VA and the University of Minnesota explained what they have learned so far about an obesity-fighting hormone called orexin...

Women with back pain may benefit from yoga

A study at the VA San Diego Healthcare System suggests that women Veterans with chronic low back pain can see improvements in pain and energy levels and overall mental health status from participating in yoga...

Millennium Cohort Study finds sparse evidence of lung damage from burn pits

Analyzing the military and health records of nearly 23,000 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, researchers with VA and the Department of Defense found little evidence of a higher risk of respiratory problems among those who served near burn pits...

Career milestones

Natalie Dell, MPH, a project manager for mental health research at the Bedford (Mass.) VA Medical Center, was part of the U.S. women's quad rowing team that won a bronze medal at the Olympics on Aug. 1.

JoAnne Robbins, PhD, associate director of research for the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wis., will receive the Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) award during the group's annual meeting in November.

James Sowers, MD, a research scientist at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, Mo., is the 2012 recipient of the Irvine Page-Alva Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award in Hypertension, given by the American Heart Association.

Four VA researchers were recently among 96 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor given by the U.S. government to federal researchers in the early stages of their careers. Joining fellow award recipients from 11 other federal agencies were VA investigators Jeffrey R. Capadona, PhD, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center; Charlesnika T. Evans, PhD, Hines (Ill.) VA Hospital; Amy M. Kilbourne, PhD, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System; and K. Luan Phan, MD, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.

Elizabeth Martin Yano, PhD, MSPH, won the 2012 Under Secretary's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research-the highest honor for a VA health services researcher.

A series of videos produced by the communications team of VA's Office of Research and Development won first place in the Web-based media category in the 2012 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Communications Awards.