Whole Health, Veteran-centered care for advanced liver disease
Official title: Integrating Veteran-Centered Care for Advanced Liver Disease (I-VCALD)
Funded at Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center · NIH-11216511 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project offers a Whole Health, Veteran-centered care approach to help Veterans with advanced liver disease get treatments that match their goals and reduce symptoms and hospital visits.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | October 1, 2023 |
| Project end | September 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01HX003541-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11216511 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Veterans with advanced liver disease who receive care at one of the participating VA medical centers and are willing to work with a Whole Health care team.
✕Less likely to help
People with early-stage liver disease, non-Veterans, or those not receiving care at participating VA centers would not be eligible and are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
You would be offered a coordinated care program focused on what matters most to you, with clinicians helping set shared goals and aligning treatments to those goals. The team will first interview patients, clinicians, and leaders to shape how the program is delivered. Then Veterans at four VA centers will be enrolled in a randomized comparison of the Whole Health approach versus usual care, and researchers will track health, symptoms, and how well the program can be put into regular VA practice. Finally, the project will summarize how feasible and sustainable the program is across sites.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could give Veterans more goal-aligned care, better symptom control, fewer hospitalizations, and more timely consideration for transplant when appropriate.
How similar studies have gone: Whole-person and palliative-integrated care programs have helped patients with other chronic illnesses, but applying this model to Veterans with advanced liver disease is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kanwal, Fasiha — Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Kanwal, Fasiha
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.