VISN 17 Center of Excellence
THE VETERANS GATEWAY PROJECT
Every day, hundreds of thousands of our nation’s heroes struggle with mental health issues: from PTSD and depression to chronic pain and the effects of traumatic brain injury.
The Veterans Gateway Project is a research study designed to uncover the root causes of mental health conditions that are affecting the Veteran population and help develop better treatments. But to do this is a large task, that’s why we’ve assembled a network of neuroscientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and biologists all aligned with one mission: to help our Veteran community.
Who Can Participate?
Whether you have PTSD or depression does not matter for participation. It is important that we collect data from Veterans from all walks of life, from different backgrounds, and with different life experiences. The data we collect will only be used for research purposes. It will not affect your healthcare at the VA.
What Will You Do?
Participation in the study will involve three things:
- A trained interviewer will ask you a series of questions about your mental health, and you will be asked to complete a questionnaire about any symptoms of emotional struggles, sleep difficulties, or chronic pain that you may be experiencing.
- We will take an MRI image of your brain. You will not need to lie down all the way in an MRI (like in many medical procedures). We will only ask you to place your head in the MRI, so there is minimal discomfort for you. This will help us determine any neurological causes for mental health conditions.
- We will ask you to donate three small vials of blood. This will help us determine any biochemical causes for mental health conditions.
Where Does the Research Take Place?
All of these procedures will take place at the Waco VA campus (Building 93). There will be a total of three visits to participate in the study. The first visit will take about four and a half hours of your time. The second and third visits will take about three hours each. If you enroll into the study, you will be compensated for your time in the amount of $150 dollars for completion of the procedures in the first visit and $90 for completion of the procedures in the subsequent visits. Participation is completely voluntary and confidential. For driving directions, please see our Location page.
How Can I Learn More?
If you would like to hear more about this opportunity, please call us at:
A short pre-screening by telephone can be done to help determine if you’re eligible to participate. Our study staff may also call you in the next few weeks to discuss your interest in participating. If you are interested in helping Veterans with PTSD, depression, and suicidal thinking – we need your help!! The data gathered as part of this study could help lead to new diagnostic tools or treatments.
