‘Young Investigators’ and Poster Awardees Strengthen Military Health Research to Improve Care for the Warfighter

'Young Investigators' and Poster Awardees Strengthen Military Health Research to Improve Care for the Warfighter

The 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium spotlighted Young Investigators-representing the bright future of modern military medicine.

The oral competition recognized the best presentations from residents, fellows, doctoral candidates, post-docs, and individuals within five years of graduation from a terminal degree. All research was Department of Defense-funded with data directly relevant to one of the four MHSRS focus areas: warfighter medical readiness, expeditionary medicine, warfighter performance, and return to duty.

Researchers with poster presentations also received awards presented in Kissimmee, Florida, on Aug. 29.

"The Young Investigator's competition continues to be MHSRS's most popular and competitive category," said U.S. Air Force Col. Scott Sonnek, deputy chief, Airman Biosciences Division of the 711 Human Performance Wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, who moderated the ceremony.

Young Investigator Award Winners

This year's competition received 326 abstracts for consideration. Eight researchers representing the top 2% of submissions gave 15-minute oral presentations of their research. The top three presentations received awards.

Amy Stahl, from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, won first place for her work, titled, "Acute Neurological Effects of Repeat Low-Level Blast Exposure."

U.S. Navy Lt. Com. Kezia Edmonson receives her Young Investigator award at the 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium.

U.S. Navy Lt. Com. Kezia Edmonson of the Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command, Bethesda, Maryland, won second place for his work, titled, "Mental Health Disparities in Military Affiliated vs. Civilian Adolescents: Analysis of 2015-2019 NSDUH Data."

U.S. Army Maj. Bobby Zhang of Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Washington, won third place for "Saving Limbs and Lives: A Novel Percutaneous Vessel Occlusion Device to Combat Junctional Hemorrhage in Trauma."

Honorable Mentions: Dr. Olivia Tran and Dr. Miryam Pando, both from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, San Antonio, Texas, Isabella McKinney, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Dr. Lydia Hellwig, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, and U.S. Army Capt. Joseph Marotto, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington.

Poster Competition Winners

MHSRS also featured three poster sessions about ongoing research with winners selected from each session. Over 1,470 posters were presented at the 2024 meeting.

'Best in Show' Poster Competition Winner

The "best in show" poster winner was Dr. Emily Boice, with the Air Force Research Laboratory, for "Retinal Dose Response from Exposure to the Supercontinuum Generated by a NIR Femtosecond Laser."

Session One Poster Winners

First place: Dr. Alan Weaver Jr., U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for "Comparing Resuscitative Strategies in a Canine Hemorrhage Model and the Potential Effect on Glycocalyx Damage."

Second place: Dr. Annette Rodriguez, Naval Medical Research Unit, San Antonio, Texas, for "Pirfenidone Inhibits Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition and Modulates Growth Factor/Cytokine Secretion in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium During Wound Healing Secretion."

Third place: Joshua Werblin, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Arlington, Virginia, for "Force Sensing Needle Probe for Robotically-Enabled Percutaneous Intervention."

Honorable mention: Dr. Teryn Roberts, Autonomous Reanimation and Evacuation Research Institute, Geneva Foundation, Tacoma, Washington, for "Systemic Safety of Nitric Oxide-Eluting Lung Support System for Heparin-Free ECLS."

Honorable mention: Dr. David Kaczka, professor of Anesthesia, Radiology, and Biomedical Engineering at Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, for "CT Imagine Assessment of Conventional and Multi-Frequency Ventilation in a Porcine Model of Acute Lung Injury."

Session Two Poster Winners

First place: Dr. James DeMar, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, for "Acute Proteome Changes in the Brain and Plasma of Ferrets after Blast Exposure."

Second place: Dr. Michael Crowe, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, for "Anger Predicts Future Suicide Attempts Beyond Current Suicide Risk."

Third place: Dr. Walter Carr, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, for "A Data-Driven Method for Setting Thresholds for Blast Exposure in Training and Operations."

Honorable mention: Melinda Tung, Defense Healthcare Management Systems, San Antonio, Texas, for "Utilizing Ensemble Models to Predict Suicide Among Service Members and Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury."

Honorable mention: Dr. Shannon Blakey, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, for "Efficacy of Tailored Sexual Assault and Alcohol Misuse Prevention Programs at the United States Air Force Academy."

Session Three Poster Winners

First place: Dr. Evan Chinoy, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, for "Predicting Circadian Phase Through Actigraphy in a Military Operational Context."

Second Place: U.S. Army Maj. Rachell L. Jones, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, for "Effects of Timing of Physical Training on Sleep, Fatigue, and Performance in Soldiers."

Third place: Dr. Andrzej Fertala, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for "Reducing Excessive Posstraumatic Scarring in Musculoskeletal Tissues and Peripheral Nerves Through Collagen Fibrillogenesis Targeting."

Honorable mention: U.S. Army Capt. Matthew D'Alessandro, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Fort Novosel, Alabama, for "Evaluating Aviators' Situational Awareness and Workload Using Physiological Metrics."

Honorable mention: Dr. Ashelyn Sidders, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, for "SPR206: A Novel Polymyxin with Broad-spectrum Gram-negative Efficacy has Potent Synergy with FDA-approved Antibiotics."

Awards were previously handed out to winning individuals and teams for their outstanding research dedicated to improving warfighter health.

For more about MHSRS, the research presented, and additional areas of interest, visit the MHSRS webpage.