The main Medical Research Building includes 45,000 sq ft of wet bench laboratories, administrative offices and the Veterinary Medical Unit (VMU) spanning 5 floors and a basement of Building 21 directly connected to the main CMCVAMC hospital building. Clinical research activities take place throughout the Medical Center, with more focused daytime activities in the Clinical Research Center (CRC) on the 4th floor of the CMCVAMC hospital building. In addition, administrative offices and support staff of the VA HSR&D Center of Innovation CHERP (Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion) are housed in ~6,000 sq ft of space in the CMCVAMC Annex within a short walking distance from the main CMCVAMC campus. All research-related activities are performed on-site, with the exception of off-site research based on approved VA Central Office off-site waiver.
Active VA-relevant research areas span those in Health Services (HSR&D), Rehabilitation (RR&D), Biomedical Laboratory (BLR&D) and Clinical Science (CSR&D): 1) Health Services (health disparity, end-of-life care, patient aligned care team) with a VA HSR&D Center of Innovation CHERP (Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion) and two affiliated clinical centers CEPACT (Center for Evaluation of Patient Aligned Care Team) and PROMISE (Performance Reporting and Outcomes Measurement to Improve the Standard of care at End-of-Life); 2) Behavioral Health (depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, schizophrenia) with a MIRECC (Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center of Excellence) and CESATE (Center of Excellence for Substance Abuse Treatment and Education); 3) Immunity and Inflammation (HCV, HIV, HBV, liver cancer, lupus, arthritis, rhinosinusitis); 4) Musculoskeletal Health and Regeneration (cartilage, bone, spine degeneration, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, rehabilitation) with a Translational Musculoskeletal Research Center (TMRC); 5) Neurological disorders (Parkinson’s Disease, traumatic brain injury, neurodegeneration and regeneration) with a PADRECC (Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center) and a newly established Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration and Restoration (CNNR); 6) Genetics with an ongoing Cooperative Studies Program MVP (Million Veterans Program); 7) Cancer research examining prevention, screening, management and/or basic pathogenesis of cancers involving colon, liver, lung, blood and prostate.
These research areas are supported by over 30 VA Merit Reviews, 9 Career Development Awards (CDA), 5 Cooperative Studies Program (CSP), 5 SPiRE, 15 Pilot Awards and 1 HSR&D Center of Innovation (COIN), in addition to other federal (e.g. NIH, DoD) and non-federal sources, as of 2016.
The CMCVAMC Medical Research Program is directed by the Associate Chief of Staff for R&D (Kyong-Mi Chang MD) with the support of Administrative Officer (Richard Moore). The regulatory oversight for all VA-based research studies is provided through the CMCVAMC R&D Committee (Chair: Richard Ross, MD PhD), two Institutional Review Board Committee (Chairs: Stuart Isaacs MD, Terri Laufer MD), Research Safety and Security Program/Institutional Biosafety Committee (Chair: Victoria Werth MD) and Institutional Animal Care Use and Care Committee (Chair: Laurence Buxbaum MD PhD). The nonprofit Philadelphia Research and Education Foundation (PREF) administers non-VA-funded but VA-relevant research conducted by VA investigators (Executive Director: Tinesar Forrest).
II. Existing Centers of Excellence and Programs with Research, Clinical and Educational missions:
CHERP (Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, a joint HSR&D Center of Innovation between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh VA) Director: Said Ibrahim MD, MPH in Philadelphia.