CREDITS
Funding
Funding for this work was provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research & Development (SDR 17-151). Additional salary support was provided by the VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Innovation (COIN) and Center to Improve Veteran Involvement In Care (CIVIC) at the VA Portland Health Care System.
Research Team
Shannon Nugent, PhD was the lead qualitative investigator at the VA Portland Health Care System and project Principal Investigator beginning in July 2022. Dr. Nugent was involved with most aspects of the project including conducting interviews, developing the qualitative codebook, coding, leading the data analysis and module writing process, and reviewing the final summaries. She is a Core investigator at the VA Portland Healthcare System Center to Improve Veteran Involvement In Care (CIVIC) and holds a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor at Oregon Health & Science University in the Department of Psychiatry.
Mark Helfand, MD, MPH, MS was the initial Principal Investigator on this project. He served as a physician clinical lead and conducted some interviews. He was involved in all phases of the study, from obtaining the original funding, provision of medical insights, and reviewing and editing the final summaries. Dr. Helfand is trained in Internal Medicine and practices at the Portland VA Medical Center. He is a founding member of the Health Experiences Research Network.
Sara J. Knight, PhD was the lead qualitative investigator and the Site PI at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System. Dr. Knight was involved in many aspects of the study including obtaining initial funding, maintaining regulatory requirements, conducting qualitative interviewing, methodological oversight and analysis. She is a Research Scientist in the Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center (IDEAS 3.0) at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and a Professor in the School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology at the University of Utah. Dr. Knight is also a Vice Chair and Member of the HERN US Steering Committee.
Kara Winchell, MA was the Clinical Study Coordinator on this project. She was involved from the beginning, managed the IRB and regulatory processes throughout, recruited and scheduled most participants, attended most of the interviews, collaborated on codebook development, coded interviews, cut and edited the video clips, and managed the module contracting and development process.
Megan Lafferty, PhD is a trained anthropologist and qualitative methodologist. She helped conduct Veteran interviews and data analysis on this project and led a manuscript about women of the Gulf War. She also was instrumental in writing topic summaries, bios, and selecting clips for the module.
Erika Cottrell PhD, MPP served as a methodologic specialist and “coding buddy.” She trained other study team members on DIPEx interview process, provided expertise and leadership to the study team throughout the project, and ensured methodologic fidelity to DIPEx. Erika is trained as a sociologist and holds a faculty appointment at Oregon Health & Science University, Clinical and Translational Research Institute as well as OCHIN. She is a member of the HERN Steering Committee.
Advisory Panel
Heather D. was a supply Corporal in the Marine Corp. during the First Gulf War. After her time in the military, she had a long career in the Sheriff’s department. Upon retiring from law enforcement, she and her husband moved to the Pacific Northwest where she make walking sticks for Veterans and enjoys the crisp mountain air. After a 27-year-long struggle with her health and obtaining inadequate medical care, Heather was diagnosed with Gulf War Illness in 2017 by experts at Georgetown University.
Stephen C Hunt MD, MPH, is a staff physician at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington Department of Medicine. He is board-certified in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and practices post-deployment care. He directs the VA National Post-Deployment Integrated Care Initiative (PDICI) and is the Office of Primary Care Legislative Action Team Physician Lead for PACT Act Sections 603 and 405, which involve screening and support for Veterans with exposure-related health concerns. He is an SME on Veterans Health Care, Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Gulf deployed Veterans and Post-Deployment Care, for academic and governmental oversight and policy groups. He has served two terms on the Gulf War Illnesses Research Advisory Committee.
Lisa McAndrew, PhD, is Director of the EXPosure-Related Care Transformation (EXPRT) Center at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), VA New Jersey Healthcare System. She leads nation efforts to improve care for military exposure through education, implementation, evaluation and research. Dr. McAndrew has conducted research on Gulf War Illness for over 10 years including a CSR&D multi-site trial of Problem-Solving Treatment for Gulf War Illness and an HSR&D funded observational study of Veteran-provider communication for Gulf War Illness.
Nancy Pandhi, MD, MPH, PhD is a practicing family physician, Associate Chair at the University of New Mexico Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Contact Principal Investigator of the University of New Mexico CTSA. She served as a methodologic specialist and “coding buddy.” She started her research career working as a research assistant at the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. She co-led a module on Young Adults Experiences of Depression found on the Health Experiences Research Network’s (HERN) website http://healthexperiencesusa.org. She is on HERN’s National Steering Committee and is its National Training Director, responsible for training research teams to conduct this type of research.
Nancy Klimas, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine and Chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology at Nova Southeastern University. She is the Assistant Dean of Research for the Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. She established the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine (INIM), at Nova Southeastern University. In partnership with the Miami Veteran’s Administration Medical Center’s Gulf War Illness (GWI) research program, the INIM is a multi- disciplinary research and clinical institute that takes a systems biology approach to understanding complex medical illnesses, such as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Gulf War Illness (GWI). Dr. Klimas is Professor Emerita, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a diplomat in Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, and Director of Environmental Medicine Research at the Miami VAMC GRECC (Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center). She has achieved national and international recognition for her research and clinical efforts in multi-symptom disorders, including ME/CFS and GWI. She is the past president of the International Association for CFS and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (IACFS/ME), a professional organization of clinicians and investigators, and a past member of the Health and Human Services (HHS) CFS.
Mary Jo Pugh, PhD, RN, is a Research Career Scientist at the Salt Lake City Veterans Health Care System, and Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Epidemiology at the University of Utah. Dr. Pugh is a retired Air Force Nurse, who has conducted research in post-deployment health in the VA since 2002. She is also the wife of a retired Gulf War Veteran with Gulf War Illness who was deployed for both Desert Shield and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her work is focused on improving care and outcomes for Gulf War and Post-9/11 Veterans, and understanding the impact of caregiving on Military and Veteran caregivers.
Acknowledgements
The Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) and Vet Centers of the VA Portland Health Care System happily disseminated flyers and encouraged participating in this project, and often provided space to the study team to interview participants.
Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) across the country who generously provided interview space to study team members, sometimes on short notice.
The Center to Improvement Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) Veteran Engagement Group advised on interview guides, recruitment, and dissemination strategies.
The Center to Improvement Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) offered ongoing guidance, feedback, and support throughout all phases of the project.
Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE) at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) for lending their dissemination expertise and module production efforts.
Natalie Kelly and Tania Velasquez, MPH, who provided valuable assistance during the recruitment, enrollment, and interview process at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System.
Ed Reid provided invaluable editorial assistance, reviewed topic summaries, and brought a fresh outside perspective to the final product.
Hannah Card, Felipe Rubim, MA, Cree Foeller, MS, and Amanda Santana for lending both a hand and writing expertise.