Traumatic stress, biological aging, and heart/stroke risk in Veterans
Official title: Traumatic Stress, Epigenetic Aging, and Cardiovascular Risk in the Million Veteran Program
Funded at VA Boston Health Care System · NIH-11043948 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether past traumatic stress speeds up biological aging in DNA and raises the chance of heart disease and stroke for Veterans.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Boston Health Care System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2025 |
| Project end | March 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 1I01BX006510-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11043948 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
U.S. Veterans who are enrolled in the Million Veteran Program with available DNA methylation data and health records—especially those with a history of traumatic stress—are the ideal participants for this work.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not Veterans or are not enrolled in the Million Veteran Program, or those without DNA methylation data, are unlikely to directly participate or benefit from this project.
What this research studies
Researchers will analyze health records and DNA methylation data from about 45,600 Veterans enrolled in the Million Veteran Program to measure epigenetic (biological) age using clocks like Horvath and GrimAge. They will examine links between prior traumatic stress and faster epigenetic aging, and whether faster epigenetic age helps explain new cases of heart disease and stroke over time. The team will test how factors like diet, exercise, medications, and genetics change those links. Finally, they will build a risk algorithm using epigenetic age and genetic analyses to better predict cardiovascular risk related to trauma.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify Veterans whose past trauma has increased their biological age and cardiovascular risk, enabling earlier prevention or tailored care.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked traumatic stress and accelerated epigenetic aging to worse heart outcomes, but using a very large Veteran dataset and developing a predictive epigenetic risk algorithm is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Boston Health Care System
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wolf, Erika J — VA Boston Health Care System
- Study coordinator: Wolf, Erika J
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Traumatic Stress, Epigenetic Aging, and Heart Risk in Veterans
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.