Acknowledgements
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs
has provided financial
support for the development and continuation of the VET Registry.
The authors acknowledge the work of the
following people:
1) Vietnam Era Twin Registry: Programmer, K. Bukowski (Past); 2)
VET Registry Advisory Committee: A.G. Bearn,
M.D. (Past), E. Boerwinkle,
Ph.D., G. Chase, Sc.D. (Past), T. Colton, Sc.D., J. Dorman, Ph.D.,
W.E. Nance, M.D., Ph.D., R.S.
Paffenbarger, Jr.,
M.D., Dr.P.H. (Past), M.M. Weissman, Ph.D. (Past), and R.R. Williams,
M.D. (Past); 3) VA Chief Research & Development
Officer: John R.
Feussner, M.D., M.P.H.; Assistant Director: Steven M. Berkowitz,
Ph.D.; Program Manager: Joseph Gough, M.A.;
4) the many research
investigators who have helped expand the VET Registry database.
The following organizations provided invaluable support in
the conduct of this study: Department of Defense; National
Personnel Records Center, National Archives ad Records Administration;
the Internal Revenue Service; National Opinion Research Center;
National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences; the
Institute for Survey Research, Temple University.
Most importantly, the authors gratefully acknowledge the continued
cooperation and participation of the members of the Vietnam
Era Twin Registry and their families. Without their contribution
this research would not have been possible.
A number of systems have been implemented to manage the VET
Registry. These systems include a set of databases that are
secure and allow ready identification of twin participation
in current and previous research projects. A newsletter is
used to stay in regular contact with twin pairs and provide
feedback to the twins. An Advisory Committee of senior scientists
provides oversight to the Registry and conducts an external
review of all new projects. Human subject protections are in
place that strictly limit access to twins and require projects
to use approved 3rd party contractors to serve as intermediaries
between the investigators and twin pairs.
The VET Registry is actively pursuing several new directions
for the future. As the twins age it is likely that new projects
will be initiated that focus on the common physical health
problems of older age. The Registry is seeking projects studying
chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease,
and arthritis.
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