About Us
Who We Are
- The War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) is a national resource center within the VA. It was established in 2001 to address the post-deployment and military environmental exposure health issues faced by Veterans after their service. This was mandated by Congress through Public Law 105-368, Section 103.
- As a center under the Office of Patient Care Services (PCS), the WRIISC addresses health concerns related to military service through clinical care, education, and research.
- Our clinical services offer expert assessments of environmental and occupational exposures and provide comprehensive medical evaluations for Veterans with chronic, unexplained symptoms or difficult-to-diagnose conditions that might be linked to their time in the military.
- We provide post-deployment health education to Veterans, their families, and healthcare providers. WRIISC ensures medical professionals in the VA and in the community have the knowledge and tools to deliver the best care to Veterans. This includes providing national education on military and environmental exposures and support to implement this education that are required by law (PL 117-168).
- Our surveillance and research programs focus on the unique health needs of Veterans, ensuring our efforts remain aligned with their care requirements. We develop and implement innovative approaches to enhance the health and well-being of all Veterans.
Our History
Each WRIISC site established a Center of Excellence (CoE) to focus on specific areas of Veteran health:
Our Collaborating Partners
WRIISC works with various VA, Department of Defense (DoD), and other federal agencies, academic institutions, and research foundations to improve Veteran health.
Our Leadership
Dr. J. Wes Ashford serves as the Director of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VA PAHCS). He is also an affiliated Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and a Senior Research Scientist at the Stanford/VA Aging Clinical Research Center and Alzheimer’s Center. Additionally, he holds the position of staff psychiatrist at the VAPAHCS.
Dr. Ashford has dedicated 35 years to working within the VA, managing several programs, including a memory disorders outpatient clinic and a substance-dependence inpatient unit. He has extensively researched clinical problems affecting Veterans, publishing articles on conditions such as Gulf War Illness, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. His educational background includes a BA from UC-Berkeley, an MD from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and a PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA. He is a prolific writer and speaker, frequently presenting at international conferences.
Dr. Matthew J. Reinhard is the Director of the WRIISC in Washington, DC, and the Complex Exposure Threats Center of Excellence (CETCE). Since 2008, he has been affiliated with the WRIISC at the Washington DC VA Medical Center as a clinical neuropsychologist. Dr. Reinhard earned his BA from Long Island University, followed by an MA and PsyD from Pepperdine University. He completed his internship at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center and a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at University of California Los Angeles’ Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Before joining the WRIISC, Dr. Reinhard worked as a clinical psychologist in the PTSD treatment program at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. He specializes in military, occupational, and environmental exposures and neuropsychological assessments. Dr. Reinhard is also the Principal Investigator on several studies and a frequent contributor to peer-reviewed literature. He holds an academic appointment as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School.
Dr. Helena K. Chandler is the Director of the WRIISC in New Jersey. She oversees all operations at the center, ensuring high quality in clinical, research, and educational activities. Dr. Chandler joined the WRIISC in 2002 after earning her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She received federal funding for her Postdoctoral Fellowship, where she gained specialized training in Behavioral Medicine applications for Veterans with complex and medically unexplained symptoms. Dr. Chandler has collaborated on numerous federally funded research projects across the three WRIISC sites, the Mental Health & Behavioral Science division of the VA New Jersey Health Care System.VAMC, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. These projects include multisite studies and clinical trials of new interventions for Veterans. Her primary research interests lie in Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS), Military Environmental Exposures, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Healthcare Utilization.
