(February 27, 2007)—The contract authorizing a $3 million joint study of post-traumatic stress disorder at the Waco VA Hospital has been signed and the project is set to begin, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, announced Wednesday.

Researchers are the Waco and Temple VA Hospitals, Fort Hood, Texas A&M University and Baylor University are involved in the project.

The $3 million was included in the 2006 Defense bill, but Edwards said such new research programs can take as long as a year to get underway.

Congress rejected at additional $3.5 million for the program last year, but Edwards plans to push for that funding again in the 2008 appropriations process this spring.

“This is an important first step in realizing our goal of making the Waco VA, in conjunction with Ft. Hood and the Temple VA, a world-class PTSD and mental health care research center,” Edwards said Wednesday.

“I am going to pursue this goal passionately, because it will improve the lives of thousands of veterans who have risked their lives for our nation,” he said.

The study will focus on the role genes and brain anatomy may play in PTSD and related stress disorders, Edwards said.

The researchers will follow 1,400 Fort Hood soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq for six months to study factors that affect the development of PTSD and depression.

The soldiers will be retested as much as possible beginning late in 2007, Edwards said.

“The Waco VA and Ft. Hood are uniquely positioned to conduct world-class research with the Department of Defense and Texas A&M to find improved treatments and cures for veterans suffering from mental illness and post traumatic stress disorder,” Edwards said.

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