Office of Research & Development |
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Nearly 8,000 Veterans are diagnosed and treated in VA for lung cancer each year. An estimated 900,000 are at risk for lung cancer due to age, smoking, and environmental exposures during and after military service. Veterans have a higher rate of lung cancer and a lower rate of survival than the general population.
The VA Lung Precision Oncology Program (LPOP), a component of the VHA’s Precision Oncology Initiative, aims to give VA clinicians a range of tools to proactively address and treat lung cancer in Veterans. Precision oncology uses patients’ unique genetic profiles from their tumor to tailor individualized treatment and connect them with new therapies through clinical trials. The program goals include:
To achieve these goals, VA has selected locations across the nation to serve as centralized hub sites. These sites will coordinate with local VA facilities regarding screening, genetic testing, and participation in clinical trials to ensure that Veterans, regardless of where they live, have access to cutting-edge oncology care.
VISN |
Facility |
Location |
Project Director |
1 |
VA Connecticut Healthcare System |
West Haven, Connecticut |
Hillary Cain |
2 |
James J. Peters VA Medical Center |
New York, New York |
Susan Bates |
4 |
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
James Herman |
6 |
Richmond VA Medical Center |
Richmond, Virginia |
Howard Li |
6 |
W. G. Hefner VA Medical Center |
Salisbury, North Carolina |
Jimmy Ruiz |
6 |
Durham VA Medical Center |
Durham, North Carolina |
Scott Shofer |
7 |
Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center |
Charleston, South Carolina |
Nichole Tanner |
8 |
Miami VA Healthcare System |
Miami, Florida |
Gregory Holt |
9 |
Louisville VA Medical Center |
Louisville, Kentucky |
Fred Hendler |
10 |
VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System |
Ann Arbor, Michigan |
Nithya Ramnath |
12 |
Jesse Brown VA Medical Center |
Chicago, Illinois |
Lawrence Feldman |
15 |
St. Louis VA Medical Center |
St. Louis, Missouri |
Theodore Thomas |
16 |
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center |
Houston, Texas |
Farrah Kheramand |
17 |
VA North Texas Health Care System |
Dallas, Texas |
Jonathan Dowell |
17 |
South Texas Veterans Health Care System |
San Antonio, Texas |
Jonathan Dowell |
19 |
VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System |
Denver, Colorado |
Robert Keith |
20 |
VA Puget Sound Healthcare System |
Seattle, Washington |
Daniel Wu |
21 |
San Francisco VA Medical Center |
San Francisco, California |
Sunny Wang |
22 |
VA Long Beach Healthcare System |
Long Beach, California |
Pankaj Gupta |
22 |
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System |
Los Angeles, California |
Steven Dubinett |
23 |
Minneapolis VA Medical Center |
Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Mark Klein |
23 |
Omaha VA Medical Center |
Omaha, Nebraska |
Apar Ganti |
* |
Computer Vision and Machine Learning in Precision Oncology (CoMPL) |
Cleveland, Ohio |
Nithya Ramnath |
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*Note: CoMPL provides support to all LPOP locations. |
LPOP is addressing lung cancer by improving screening, expanding care availability, and developing innovative new treatments. Specific initiatives that are part of LPOP include the following: