S.A. facilities to lead way on PTSD research

San Antonio will take center stage in the fight against one of the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — post-traumatic stress disorder.

In response to an executive order from President Barack Obama, the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have launched two efforts, budgeted at a total of $107 million, to research the treatment and diagnosis of PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI, over a five-year period.

The program researching TBI will be based mainly in Virginia, according to a Department of Defense news release, while the program to address PTSD will be centered mainly in San Antonio.

The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD, or CAP, will be a joint effort of the University of Texas Health Science Center- San Antonio, San Antonio Military Medical Center and the Boston VA Medical Center.

The aim is to develop the most effective diagnostic, prognostic, treatment and rehabilitative strategies to treat acute PTSD and to prevent chronic PTSD.

Issued in 2012, the executive order directed federal agencies to develop a coordinated National Research Action Plan to provide better access to mental health services to veterans, service members and military families, and to improve coordination and communication between agencies.