The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on VA Research on Nov. 1 titled “Foundation of Care: Examining Research at the Department of Veterans Affairs.” The hearing featured Dr. Ramoni, Dr. Patricia Hastings, Dr. Sumitra Muralidhar (MVP), and Matthew Kuntz (NAMI Montana). Topics included accessibility to trials for rural veterans, metrics to track VA ORD performance, MVP data access and security, and fundamental questions around how VA research is organized. 

Beyond attending relevant hearings and monitoring legislation, NAVREF's advocacy team has been meeting with several offices on the Hill to reintroduce NPCs in the conversation around enhancing VA Research. These offices include Sen. Tillis (R-NC),Sen. Murray (D-WA), Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sen. Cassidy (R-LA). In the New Year, we intend to establish more relationships on the House side to further our advocacy efforts.