VA awards OxfordVR $500,000 in Mission Daybreak grand challenge to reduce Veteran suicides
Summary
The organization, which recently came under the BehaVR umbrella, won third place with its gameChange solution, a landmark psychological therapy for individuals with psychosisNASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a $20 million challenge designed to help VA develop new suicide prevention strategies for Veterans. As a third-place award winner, OxfordVR, which recently came under the BehaVR umbrella, will receive $500,000 to further support the companys work in developing virtual reality (VR) solutions to address mental and behavioral health challenges in support of Veterans.OxfordVR was the first to successfully automate psychological therapy in VR for patients with mental illness through its immersive, VR delivered gameChange treatment, which targets the intense fears and anxieties that prevent people from fully participating in everyday activities. In November 2022, finalists had the opportunity to speak about their solutions with challenge judges and representatives from VA, Veteran Service Organizations, Capitol Hill, and policy institutes at Demo Day, held at the Samsung Executive Briefing Center in Washington, D.C.The multidisciplinary judging panel representing a diversity of perspectives, from Veterans and clinicians to social workers and technical experts evaluated submissions from the 30 finalists in Phase 2. The panel recommended the 10 winners based on the official evaluation criteria.Following Mission Daybreak, VA may engage with select solutions through contracts, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), or other partnership vehicles.Visit for more information on the challenge.Reporters covering this issue can download fact sheet or visit for important guidance on how to communicate about suicide.BehaVR is a leader in building evidence-based, immersive, digital therapeutics designed to create a more resilient world, liberated from fear and pain. BehaVR is the first immersive digital therapeutics company to deliver these treatments on an integrated platform that simplifies the patient experience, enables clinician oversight, and generates patient-specific care plans and measurable outcomes.