The Veterans Metrics Initiative Study includes researchers from the Department of Defense, Veterans Health Administration, and civilian sector. Researchers collaborate to strategically design and conduct studies to measure the impacts of publicly and privately sponsored interventions on the long-term well-being of veterans.
Co-Principal Investigators
JOHN BOYLE, PH.D.
John Boyle is a Senior Vice President and leads the Survey Research Practice at ICF International. He has more than 35 years of experience managing and directing large multi-mode surveys of veterans for the VA, DoD and for non-profit organizations. He is a leader in developing technical and methodological innovations and an expert in statistical, data collection, data management, analyses, and reporting. Dr. Boyle directed the first survey of the health effects on Agent Orange among US Air Force personnel and the first survey about the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among American ground troops in Vietnam. His contributions to TVMI include input on adjustments to survey design in post-baseline waves, troubleshooting survey and support processes based on survey returns and calls to the Help center, and participating in dissemination activities.
LAUREL COPELAND, PH.D., MPH
Laurel Copeland is a Research Scientist at the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System in Leeds, MA and at Baylor Scott & White Health in Temple, Texas, where she serves as Associate Director of the Center for Applied Health Research. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center and adjunct in the School of Public Health as well as at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Copeland is a methodologist with expertise in utilizing large databases from electronic medical records systems (EMR) to address health outcomes research questions especially for patients with mental illness. Dr. Copeland has expertise in health services research, Veterans’ use of medical care, mental and behavioral health measurement, survey development, data development to address research questions including data integration and variable definition, and statistical analysis. With colleagues, she has examined health outcomes and health-related quality of life in a wide variety of clinical samples, in both the federal and non-federal sectors, particularly with the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), a consortium of 20 private not-for-profit payer-providers in the United States with one member in Israel. In the VA setting, Dr. Copeland has determined factors associated with inpatient death for veterans with schizophrenia, correlates of homelessness and incarceration among veterans with bipolar disorder, association of testing and treating dysglycemia with death for veterans with serious mental illness, sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with risk of suicidality, and association of mental illness with receipt and outcomes of major surgery.
ERIN FINLEY, PH.D., MPH
Erin Finley is a medical anthropologist who has worked extensively in clinical and public health settings. She has conducted research exploring the impact of stress and violence on physical and mental health in Guatemala, Northern Ireland, and among refugees, and substance-abusing and veteran populations in the U.S. In 2007-2008, Dr. Finley completed 20 months of ethnographic research on PTSD among OEF/OIF veterans and their families, resulting in her 2011 book, Fields of Combat: Understanding PTSD among Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan (Cornell University Press), which was awarded the 2012 Margaret Mead Award by the Society for Applied Anthropology and the American Anthropological Association. Dr. Finley has expertise in qualitative methods, quantitative, and mixed-method research, and is currently Principal Investigator on two VA-funded studies examining veterans' PTSD-related care-seeking and access across the spectrum of VA, military, and community-based services.
DANIEL F. PERKINS, PH.D.
Daniel F. Perkins is a Professor of Family and Youth Resiliency and Policy and affiliate faculty at the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. He has been designing and evaluating strengths-based family and youth programs (prevention and intervention programs), especially for military families, and implementation research that is relevant to the proposed project. Currently, he is examining the transitioning of evidence-based programs and practices to large-scale expansion. Over the last five years, he has directed the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State University. The Clearinghouse’s mission is to foster and support interdisciplinary research and evaluation, translational and implementation science, and outreach efforts that advance the health and well-being of veterans, military service members, and their families. The Clearinghouse is an interactive, knowledge-based platform for helping professionals supporting military families. It is designed to promote and support: (1) the use of research-based decision-making; (2) the selection, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based programs and practices; (3) the evaluation of programs and the identification or creation of measures; and (4) the education of professionals assisting military families. Dr. Perkins serves as Scientific Program Director for TVMI Study Aims 2 and 3 which will document programs and services used by veterans throughout the transition continuum, distill programs into their components, and assess associations between program components and veteran well-being outcomes.
DAWNE VOGT, PH.D.
Dawne Vogt is a Research Psychologist in the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at VA Boston Healthcare System, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Vogt has published extensively in the veteran literature and has received funding for her work from VA, DoD, and NIH. One of her primary research interests is in the health and well-being of veterans, as evidenced by her current role as PI of a VA-funded longitudinal study of the impact of deployment stress on the occupational and family functioning of OEF/OIF veterans. She is also a leading expert on the study of women veterans, and her most recent work has focused on documenting gender differences in deployment stress and associated implications for the post-deployment health and well-being of OEF/OIF veterans. Dr. Vogt has expertise in psychometrics and instrument development, and experience with the application of contemporary analytical strategies for the analysis of longitudinal data (e.g., SEM, HLM). She has authored a number of widely used measures in the field of veteran health research, including the recently updated Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2 (DRRI-2). Dr. Vogt serves as the Scientific Program Director for Aim 1, which is to document veteran well-being throughout the transition period in four key domains (i.e., vocation, finances, mental and physical health, and social relationships).
Administrative Program Director
CYNTHIA GILMAN, JD
Cynthia Gilman serves as the Administrative Program Director for the TVMI Study. As such, Ms. Gilman is responsible for the coordination of the Co-Principal Investigators and their respective organizations, and the development and management of research and sub-award agreements, written protocols, external communication plans, and interim reports of findings. Ms. Gilman’s responsibilities include coordinating the drafting of and required modifications to the research proposal, funding agreements, and certifications for review by federal organizations and sponsors. All interim progress reviews and submissions will be handled by HJF under Ms. Gilman’s direction with the advice and leadership of the Co-Principal Investigators. Ms. Gilman is the point of contact for all communications with federal and non-federal sponsors on issues pertaining to direction and coordination associated with the TVMI Study, including fiscal and management issues.
Visit the Co-Investigator Portal