VA Opens Providence Research Center to Improve Care of Vets

A new research center that will focus on improving the care of veterans opened in Providence Monday. The VA Providence Healthcare System marked the opening of the Capt. John H. Harwood Research Center.
The VA said the research aims to improve care for veterans challenged by aging, disease or disability. Lawrence Connell, the VA director in Providence, said they are doing “groundbreaking medical research,” in large part because of their partnership with Brown University. Researchers in Providence are working on new interventions to reduce veteran suicide and substance abuse after hospitalization, and ways to reduce depression among elderly veterans living in community living centers. They're also identifying risk factors for food insecurity among veterans, assessing for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia among homeless veterans and looking at how veterans respond to COVID-19 vaccines and booster doses.