The Million Veteran Program, which paves way for life-saving and groundbreaking research, hits its one millionth Veteran member.

According to a press release by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Million Veteran Program (MVP) has welcomed the one millionth Veteran. It is the first research program in the world to include extensive health and genetic data for this many participants. Launched in 2011, MVP aims to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of health conditions affecting Veterans and all Americans. So far, MVP data has been used in over 350 peer-reviewed research publications about a wide range of health conditions, including cancer, diabetes, PTSD, suicide prevention, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular diseases, kidney disease.

In addition to its sizeable database, the MVP reflects the diversity of the Veteran population with over 250,000 minority Veterans and 100,000 women Veterans joining the program. The program has been used in large-scale genetic studies on anxiety, depression, blood pressure heart disease non-alcoholic liver disease. Consequently increasing understanding of genetic risk factors for these conditions. Besides being a hub for genetic studies information it is also known as world's largest database on nutrition. This wealth of information comes from veterans who voluntarily provide blood samples participate in health surveys while granting researchers secure access to their health records.

"I look at [MVP] as a way to do my part and make sure the men and women that served alongside me before me after me are all properly taken care of," said Afghanistan Veteran Benjamin Flynn who is an active participant in MVP. "It is my hope that research projects like Million Veteran Program will provide information open up new possibilities for providing absolute top-of-the-line treatment for Veterans when they come back I’m proud to be a member of MVP for the simple fact that I’m still helping — I’m still serving."