# Senior Research Career Scientist

> **NIH VA IK6** · VETERANS ADMIN PALO ALTO HEALTH CARE SYS · 2024 · —

## Abstract

The overarching goals of Dr. Myers’ research program are to apply exercise therapy and lifestyle intervention
to help restore function, reduce disability, and reduce health care costs in Veterans with chronic disease. These
areas include diagnostic and prognostic applications of cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and the physiologic
effects of multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs in patients with chronic heart failure, coronary artery disease,
abdominal aortic aneurysm disease, spinal cord injury, mild cognitive impairment, and chronic renal failure. He
is currently PI on a VA RR&D project entitled, “Telehealth Vs. Web-based deliveRed home-basEd walKing for
Vets with Peripheral Artery Disease (TREK-PAD)”, and a PCORI-funded project entitled, “Prehabilitation and
Rehabilitation in PAD: A Randomized Exercise Intervention Trial (PREPARE-IT)”. These projects extend his
lengthy history of research on the clinical applications of rehabilitation in patients with cardiovascular disease.
TREK-PAD applies novel telehealth applications of exercise therapy in patients with peripheral arterial disease
(PAD), a poorly represented group in rehabilitation studies. PREPARE-IT assesses the impact of a
prehabilitation strategy in patients with PAD scheduled to undergo endovascular stenting for leg pain due to
PAD. These studies are impactful in Veterans because studies have shown that Veterans have a markedly
higher prevalence of PAD than the general population; Veteran males between the ages of 45 and 64 undergo
peripheral angioplasty at a rate that is nearly 10-fold higher than rates for the US male population. Prehabilitation
is an emerging strategy recommended in numerous surgical guidelines but remains underutilized. Dr. Myers’
current projects also include studies involving rehabilitation in patients with mild cognitive impairment and
patients with kidney disease awaiting transplantation.
Dr. Myers initiated and manages a relational database of clinical, angiographic, and exercise test responses
dating back to 1987. This database has been a resource for answering many epidemiologic questions affecting
Veterans (termed the Veterans Exercise Testing Study, or VETS). The VETS study is an ongoing, prospective
evaluation of Veteran subjects referred for exercise testing for clinical reasons, designed to address exercise
test, clinical, and lifestyle factors and their association with health outcomes. The VETS data set has >750,000
subjects who have undergone a maximal exercise test in the VA system. Studies from the VETS cohort have
addressed the prevalence, temporal trends, and health care costs associated with statin use, obesity, chronic
heart failure, cardiac rhythm abnormalities and other chronic conditions, and how these conditions are
influenced by fitness, physical activity and other lifestyle patterns. Published studies from the VETS cohort have
influenced guidelines on exercise testing from major health organizations. He coordinates two other nationa...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10861701
- **Project number:** 2IK6RX002477-08
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS ADMIN PALO ALTO HEALTH CARE SYS
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan N. Myers
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-10-01 → 2030-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10861701

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10861701, Senior Research Career Scientist (2IK6RX002477-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10861701. Licensed CC0.

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