VA Research, 1925-1980

About the Book

This book describes the actors in the VA research program, including prizewinners and pioneers. It places the program on its foundations-the veterans’ health care system in the United States, the only such system in the world. It describes clinical studies that revolutionized medical care. It follows the beginnings of the VA’s research designed to improve health services and to improve rehabilitation of the disabled. Examples are included of the impact of a research program in the context of a VA medical center and of the role of VA researchers in development of specific medical specialties. This book should be of special interest to those associated with the VA system, those in academic medicine and those with an interest in medical research.

About the Author

Marguerite Hays, M.D. is a physician researcher who spent 40 years in the VA system. Her medical specialties are endocrinology and nuclear medicine and her research has been on the physiology of the thyroid gland and its hormones.

During the 1970’s, she led the nationwide VA research program from the Washington, DC Central Office. She brings the viewpoint of an interested insider to her narrative of the VA research program from its beginnings in 1925 through the period of her tenure in Washington, DC. This book, requested and supported by her successors in Central Office, reflects the assistance of many persons, including nearly 300 people whom Dr. Hays interviewed about their experiences in VA research.