Brief Description

Established on August 29, 1990, the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association (NEBRA) is a nonprofit corporation that was created to advance the research and educational activities of the staff at the Omaha Department of Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center (OVAMC). NEBRA was established to accept and administrate private and public funds. Contributions may be gen-erated via donations or contracts. The purpose of NEBRA is to facilitate and support research and education activities at the OVAMC. NEBRA has been incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Nebraska and will comply with all local, state and federal laws and with the common ethical principles of academic medicine. Although NEBRA is a private corpo-ration, it is also subject to certain forms of federal oversight (38 U.S.C. 7361, 7362).

Since its incorporation, NEBRA has partnered with the OVAMC to develop a diverse research portfolio dedicated to investigating a variety of ailments afflicting the nation's veterans. NEBRA plays a crucial role in supporting VA physicians and researchers as they endeavor to understand how, why, and when diseases afflict the human system. NEBRA facilitates collaborative efforts between the OVAMC, academic institutions, government research organizations, and private companies by administering a variety of pro-grams.

The Association strives to advance VA research and education and is central to our mission. Through our ongoing efforts toward meeting these objectives, the OVAMC and NEBRA are teamed to provide the highest caliber research infrastructure for our re-searchers. NEBRA works to partner with the private sector to provide faculty, staff, and providers with opportunities to advance their knowledge in their respective fields of healthcare.

In 2002, NEBRA revised its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws to enable the acceptance of education funds. Through this ex-panded authority, NEBRA can manage resources to continue education and training so that we may have the most advanced healthcare workforce. Our ultimate goal is to aid in the advancement of research and education at the OVAMC.