The Department of Veterans Affairs has passed a major milestone in its effort to build one of the world’s largest genomic research cohorts. The Million Veteran Program (MVP), launched in 2011, now includes 1,091,487 enrolled Veterans as of November 20, 2025, according to VA officials. Publicly available VA data had previously stated the program had surpassed the one-million mark, making MVP one of the largest and most diverse genetic research datasets in existence.
MVP’s purpose is straightforward but ambitious. By collecting genetic information, survey responses, and access to electronic health records from participants who consent to share them, the program aims to power large-scale studies in genomics, pharmacogenomics, and disease risk to improve clinical care for Veterans. VA describes it as a cornerstone of its precision medicine strategy, stating that MVP is designed “to learn how genes, lifestyle and military exposures affect health and illness.”
Enrollment and Cohort Growth
Now that the program has passed one million enrollees, the VA will continue to recruit participants, with a particular focus on women Veterans and other underrepresented groups, including rural Veterans. VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz emphasized that the cohort is “very representative” of the overall Veteran population, particularly those receiving care in the VA system, but acknowledged that additional outreach is underway to increase representation in every demographic category. Public MVP demographic statistics already show substantial diversity among participants, including representation across age, race, service era, and branch.
According to VA officials, MVP relies on a multi-pronged recruitment approach including direct mailings, email invitations to targeted populations, outreach on approved social-media platforms, and partnerships with community organizations. These efforts complement more traditional enrollment channels through VA medical centers, where Veterans often learn about the program during routine health visits.
The program’s public enrollment description notes that eligible Veterans can join by completing consent forms, providing a blood sample, and agreeing to share their health and lifestyle information for research.
Funding and Long-Term Program Status
Funding for MVP has drawn public interest because the initiative intersects with multiple VA research priorities. Public VA budget materials list the MVP project’s FY 2025 funding at $77,066,886. At the same time, the VA’s FY 2025 Budget in Brief includes $88.4 million for “MVP and Precision Medicine.” VA officials explain the discrepancy by noting that precision medicine funding covers additional research activities beyond MVP, including cancer genomics and related initiatives. They also confirm there has been no change in the program’s FY 2026 funding status and that no portion of MVP has been paused, slowed, or reduced due to budget constraints. The program remains on track through the end of its current project period in September 2028, and because MVP is funded through the VA Medical and Prosthetics Research appropriation, it does not require new authorization to continue beyond that date.
Research Output and Clinical Impact
The scientific output of MVP has accelerated notably in recent years. Public VA data shows that more than 475 peer reviewed publications have used MVP data to date. These studies span cardiology, oncology, mental health, pharmacogenomics, chronic kidney disease, and numerous other areas relevant to Veterans. VA researchers noted MVP has “already contributed to important findings across several diseases and conditions.” One example is suicide-risk prediction: new genetic and clinical markers identified through MVP analyses have been incorporated into VA’s REACH-VET model, a tool used system-wide to identify Veterans at statistically higher risk of suicide.
Other MVP-supported findings include genetic markers now being tested in clinical trials aimed at improving prostate-cancer risk prediction and improving therapies for chronic kidney disease conditions that disproportionately affect Veterans compared to the general population.
Over the next five years, VA expects MVP-derived research to produce advances in cancer care, cardiovascular disease prevention, mental-health treatment, and pharmacogenomics.
The VA is also expanding collaboration with the National Pharmacogenomics Program to personalize medication choices for Veterans based on individual genetic profiles.
Data Access and External Collaboration
How MVP data is shared remains an important question for the scientific community. Summary-level findings from MVP analyses are currently available to outside researchers through the National Institutes of Health’s dbGaP database, where they have already supported more than 300 external studies. VA officials say the department is developing ways to make de-identified MVP data available to non-VA researchers while ensuring data remain protected within secure VA computing systems. MVP also collaborates with hundreds of external academic, federal, and private-sector researchers through VA-led projects, consistent with existing VA research-collaboration frameworks.
Sustainability and Infrastructure
Long-term sustainability has been a planning priority since MVP’s launch. According to the VA, the program conducts routine stress-testing of its informatics systems, invests in biobank preservation, and maintains continuity-of-operations protocols to protect biospecimens and data integrity. These efforts reflect the scale of the program: MVP is now one of the largest biorepositories in the world, storing over one million biological samples in dedicated VA biobanking facilities.
MVP’s Future Role in VA Precision Medicine
As the program enters its next phase, VA leadership frames MVP as a research backbone for precision medicine across the VA system. Officials expect the dataset to continue supporting both observational studies and clinical research aimed at translating genetic discoveries into practical improvements in Veteran care. With ongoing enrollment, increasing demographic diversity, and expanding analytical capacity, the Million Veteran Program remains positioned to influence how the VA approaches prevention, treatment, and long-term health planning for more than nine million enrolled Veterans nationwide.
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