Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025
The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to designate at least five VA medical facilities as innovative therapies centers of excellence. These centers would focus on research, education, and delivery of “innovative therapies” for veterans with defined conditions (such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, and substance use disorders, plus other conditions the Under Secretary designates). The Act sets up a system of peer review to select centers, requires the facilities to have partnerships with accredited medical schools and relevant professional schools (psychiatry and social work), and to establish governance and data capabilities (advisory committees, evaluation capabilities, and a national data repository). It also directs the development of a national network to coordinate education, clinical care, and research across all centers and to form a provider consortium to improve access to state-of-the-art diagnostics, care, and education. An annual oversight report would be required, and Congress would appropriate $30 million per year to support these activities. In short, the bill aims to create a federally funded network of VA facilities dedicated to advancing and disseminating innovative therapeutic approaches for veterans, with formal peer review, partnerships, governance structures, and data sharing to accelerate research and access.
Key Points
- 1Establishment and designation of centers: The Secretary, based on the Under Secretary for Health’s recommendation, must designate not fewer than five VA medical facilities as innovative therapies centers of excellence and, subject to appropriations, establish and operate them at those locations.
- 2Requirements for designation: Centers must meet high scientific and clinical merit as determined by a peer review panel, have partnerships with accredited medical schools and relevant professional schools (education/training in innovative therapies for residents; psychiatry; social work), attract scientists, establish advisory committees including veterans and VA and affiliated school representatives, be capable of evaluating center activities, coordinate education/clinical/research across facilities, form a provider consortium, and develop a national data repository for health services data on veterans receiving innovative therapies.
- 3Governance and review: A peer review panel (not subject to certain general federal advisory rules) evaluates proposals for centers, with expert members serving up to two years (some terms adjusted in the initial cycle). The panel reviews and reports on the scientific and clinical merit of proposals to the Under Secretary for Health.
- 4Oversight and reporting: An annual (and initial) report to the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees detailing activities, key findings, and recommendations to improve delivery of innovative therapies.
- 5Funding: Authorization of $30 million per fiscal year to support the research and education activities of the centers, with the VA Under Secretary for Health allocating these funds from VA accounts as appropriate.
- 6Definitions: “Covered conditions” include anxiety, bipolar disorder, chronic pain, depression, Parkinson’s disease, PTSD, and substance use disorder. “Innovative therapies” include MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, ibogaine, DMT, and other therapies designated by the Under Secretary, with the potential to expand over time.