VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP)

History and Featured Research

These are historical events and select CSP research highlights that have been featured in the media over the years.

For a comprehensive look at the establishment of CSP and early research consider: VA Cooperative Studies Program: A Legacy of Achievement and VA Research: A Historical Look.

2025

• Landmark VA-FDA collaboration will compare blood thinners in new head-to-head clinical trial features CSP #2037: Veterans Affairs Learning Health System Initiative to Assess Novel Screening vs. Usual Care and Treatment with Apixaban vs. Rivaroxaban in Veterans with Atrial Fibrillation (VALIANT-AF) trial 

2024

• VHA John D. Chase Award for Executive Excellence in Health Care awarded to Grant Huang, PhD to recognize sustained executive leadership and professional performance by a VHA executive leader. Dr. Huang served as Deputy Chief of Research and Development Officer - Enterprise Optimization from 2020 to 2025 and Director, Cooperative Studies Program from 2013 to 2025. He was named Acting Chief Research and Development Officer (CRADO) in February 2025. 
  

2023

• Partnership between VA, Hollings brings cancer clinical trial opportunities to Veterans, features National Cancer Institute (NCI) VA Interagency Group to Accelerate Trials Enrollment (NAVIGATE)
  
  
• Outstanding Research Accomplishment (Team Military) at the 2023 Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) Conference, features CSP #505: Millennium Cohort Study
  
  
• NASA data tracks Veterans’ exposure to smoke and air pollution, features CSP #595: Service and Health Among Deployed Veterans (SHADE)
  
  
• VA launches massive trial for liver cancer study, features CSP #2023: PREventing liver cancer Mortality through Imaging with Ultrasound vs. MRI (PREMIUM)

2022

• VA's new "burden-free" study method finds two blood pressure drugs equally effective, features CSP #597: Diuretic Comparison Project
  
  
• Stool tests like Cologuard are gaining popularity over colonoscopy. Which should you get?, features CSP #577: Colonoscopy vs Fecal Immunochemical Test in Reducing Mortality from Colorectal Cancer (CONFIRM)
  
  
• Doctors hope new clinical trial helps paralyzed veterans walk again, features CSP #2003: Exoskeleton Assisted-Walking in Persons With SCI: Impact on Quality of Life

2021

• Learn how one role-model organization inspires its team to "Ride for the Brand" while serving America's Veterans, features CSP Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center

2019

• Tight diabetes control alone may not benefit the heart long-term, features CSP #465-F: VA Diabetes Trial Follow-up Study (VADT-FS)
  
  
• VA and partners hope APOLLO program will be leap forward for precision oncology, features CSP #2010: Research for the VA Precision Oncology Program (RePOP)

2018

• A new resource for Gulf War research (09/12/2018), features CSP #585: Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository, CSP #2006: Genomics of Gulf War Illness in Veterans
  
  
• Individual placement and support more effective than transitional work for Veterans with PTSD (02/28/2018), features CSP #589: Veterans Individual Placement and Support Towards Advancing Recovery (VIP-STAR)
  
  
• VA announced a partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide more access to the latest treatment options for VA patients with cancer. This partnership goes by NAVIGATE (NCI and VA Interagency Group to Accelerate Trials Enrollment) and is assisted by the Boston Coordinating Center.
  

2017

• Major VA trial helps answer question of which heart bypass method is better, features CSP #517: Randomized On/Off Cardiopulmonary Bypass (ROOBY) Trial
  

2016

• Large VA trial seeks critical answers on colorectal cancer screening, features CSP #577: Colonoscopy vs. Fecal Immunochemical Testing in Reducing Mortality From Colorectal Cancer (CONFIRM)
  
  
• Hot on the trail of PTSD genes, features CSP#575-B: Genomics of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans

2015

• CSP launched the Network of Dedicated Enrollment Sites (NODES), a consortium of VA Medical Centers with dedicated teams that conduct studies to evaluate and enhance overall performance, compliance and management
  
  
• The CSP Coordinating Centers earned ISO 9001:2008 certification for quality management, an acknowledgement of exceptionally high standards

2011

• CSP launched the Million Veteran Program (MVP), establishing one of the world’s largest genomic databases. The health and genetic information are intended as a library for use in future research to prevent and treat illness among Veterans and other Americans. MVP later became its own independent VA research program operating in parallel with CSP. 

2007

• The CSP Pharmacogenomics Analysis Laboratory (PAL) began at the Little Rock VA Medical Center

2004

• The West Haven CSP Coordinating Center expanded to include a Clinical Epidemiology Research Center

2003

• CSP established the Coordinating Center at the Boston VA Medical Center, making Boston the first CSP location with both a Coordinating Center and Epidemiology Center
  
  
• CSP became part of the Clinical Science Research & Development Service (CSR&D), playing a key role in VA-sponsored clinical research efforts. Note: CSR&D became the Brain, Behavioral and Mental Health Broad Portfolio in 2023

1999

• CSP designated the Health Economics Resource Center at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System as the health economics coordinating center for CSP studies
  
  
• CSP established a DNA bank at the Palo Alto Coordinating Center
  
  
• CSP established a biospecimen repository at the Boston Epidemiology Center

1998

• CSP established its initial Epidemiology Centers in VA Medical Centers in Boston, MA, Durham, NC, and Seattle, WA

1996

• Cooperative Studies in Health Services (CSHS) was integrated within CSP
  
  
• CSP detached from the Medical Research Service (MRS) and became an independent research program within the VA Office of Research & Development (ORD)

1990

• Health Services Research and Development Services (HSR&D) partnered with the newly created Cooperative Studies in Health Services (CSHS). Note: HSR&D became Health Systems Research Broad Portfolio in 2023

1978

• CSP established two additional Coordinating Centers at VA Medical Centers in Hines, IL and Palo Alto, CA

1974

• The CSP Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center moved to the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, NM

1972

• CSP was officially established as a division of VA Medical Research Service (MRS) to coordinate multicenter clinical trials that evaluated novel therapies or new uses of standard treatments
  
  
• The initial CSP Coordinating Centers were established at VA Medical Centers in Perry Point, MD and West Haven, CT
  
  
• The CSP Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center (CSPCRPCC) was established in Washington, DC

1970

• Dr. Edward Freis and the VA Cooperative Study Group on Antihypertensive Agents published the results of landmark cooperative study, The Chemotherapy of Hypertension, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study showed that antihypertensive drugs could help to prevent or delay serious cardiovascular events. Dr. Freis won the Lasker Award and was nominated for a Nobel Prize for this work.

1962

• VA established four regional research support centers that gave investigators access to techniques and specialized help in research design, statistical methods, data management, computer programming and biomedical engineering. Under the leadership of Lawrence Shaw and along with VA Central Office, the four centers began coordinating VA clinical research studies. They were located at VA Medical Centers in West Haven, CT, Hines, IL, Little Rock, AR, and Sepulveda, CA

1960

• Dr. William Tucker, Chairman of the first Cooperative Studies Evaluation Committee (CSEC), published a monograph titled The Evolution of the Cooperative Studies in Chemotherapy of Tuberculosis of the Veterans Administration and Armed Forces of the USA. His summary outlined the "essential elements" of a controlled clinical trial.

1955

• The Central Neuropsychiatric Research Laboratory at the Perry Point VA Medical Center in Maryland developed a program for conducting cooperative studies in psychiatry. The program emphasized the design and conduct of randomized trials for the treatment of chronic schizophrenia.

1946

• Concerned with the health of 10,000 Veterans with tuberculosis, Drs. John Barnwell and Arthur M. Walker initiated a study to evaluate various drugs in the treatment of this disease, including the antibiotic streptomycin. The results of the study not only revolutionized treatment for tuberculosis, but also led to the development of an innovative method for testing the effectiveness of new drugs: the multisite VA Cooperative Study. 

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