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VA Health Systems Research

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What is the VA Women’s Health Research Network?

The VA Women's Health Research Network (WHRN) is funded by VA Health Systems Research in the VA Office of Research & Development to build and support VA's capacity to assess and improve health and health care of women Veterans. WHRN serves as a national resource for VA researchers and program office leaders to accelerate women Veterans' health research toward having evidence-based impacts on practice and policy.

WHRN Functions

WHRN provides women’s health related research consultations, supports national research collaborations in priority areas, organizes dissemination conferences/products, facilitates multilevel research-operations partnerships, advances research career development, increases women Veterans’ inclusion in research, and engages them in research functions. Email us at WHRN@va.gov to inquire further about our services.

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 Provide Research Consults

Provide Research Consults

WHRN offers brief virtual consultations to discuss HSR women Veteran-focused research project development. These sessions may focus on idea brainstorming, reviewing draft aims, addressing methods questions, and more. Consults may include proposal development and/or troubleshooting issues in new or ongoing studies.

Partner with Program Office Leadership

Partner with Program Office Leadership

WHRN partners with leaders across VA and non-VA program offices focused on advancing women Veterans' health research.

Support Legislatively Mandated Studies

Support Legislatively Mandated Studies

WHRN is regularly tapped to support VA's response to legislatively mandated studies directly or through WHRN's national consortium of VA researchers.

Engage Women Veterans in Research

Engage Women Veterans in Research

WHRN oversees the VA Women's Improvement Network (WIN), a national, virtual group of women Veterans who use the VA for their care. VA researchers may schedule a WIN session to get member input at different stages of research development (e.g., proposal ideas, survey development, dissemination pathways).

Disseminate Research

Disseminate Research

WHRN disseminates research in a variety of ways, including the Spotlight on Women’s Health Cyberseminar Series, Research Snapshots, research conferences, briefings, and more.

Spotlight on Women’s Health (SoWH) Cyberseminar Series: This cyberseminar series focuses on summarizing recent research findings from VA women’s health research or related areas.

Research Snapshots: Snapshots are brief, non-technical summaries written for the public on what is known in different research areas relevant to women Veterans’ health.

Research Conferences: virtual conferences are sponsored by WHRN and are geared towards researchers, program leaders, and clinicians.

Advance Research Career Development

Advance Research Career Development

WHRN provides research career mentorship to all levels of career stage, including VA women's health fellows, support toward development of VA Career Development Awards (CDAs), and research-related professional development training.

 Increase Women Veteran Inclusion in Research

Increase Women Veteran Inclusion in Research

WHRN oversees a national Women’s Health Practice-Based Research Network (WH-PBRN) that facilitates recruitment of women Veterans in VA research by establishing a ready-to-use infrastructure of partnered VA healthcare facilities enabling investigators to involve women Veterans, their providers, and their care settings. There are currently 76 active WH-PBRN sites.

Support Research Development

Support Research Development

WHRN promotes collaborative research development across the VA. WHRN has launched national research workgroups to accelerate development of new women’s health research in high priority areas. Workgroup members include VA researchers, program office leaders, and clinicians. Activities and workgroup objectives vary in scope and may include collaborations on publications, projects, grants, systematic reviews, and research conferences.

The following research workgroups are open to researchers conducting health systems research focused on women Veterans:

  • Women Veterans Suicide Prevention Research Work Group
  • VA Reproductive Health Research Work Group
  • VA Menopause Research Work Group
  • VA Trauma Research Work Group
  • VA Harassment Research Work Group
  • VA Women’s Military Exposures Research Work Group
  • VA Women and Aging Research Workgroup

VA WHRN Leadership

  Elizabeth (Becky) Yano, PhD, MSPH Elizabeth (Becky) Yano, PhD, MSPH
Director, Consortium
Susan Frayne, MD Susan Frayne, MD, MPH
Director, Women’s Health Practice-Based Network
 Alison Hamilton, PhD, MPH Alison Hamilton, PhD, MPH
Director, Engagement
 Adriana Rodriguez, PhD Adriana Rodriguez, PhD
Deputy Director, Consortium
Diane Carney, MS Diane Carney, MS
National Program Manager, Women’s Health Practice-Based Network

VA WHRN Membership Listserv

Complete the WHRN Consortium Membership Survey to join the VA Women's Health Research Consortium e-mail group and stay up-to-date on WHRN activities.


Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.