USU Professor Dr. Michael Roy Receives $500,000 Grant for Blast Exposure Research

Dr. Michael Roy has been awarded a $500,000 grant to conduct research on the effects of blast exposure among military service members.

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Senior Airman Adrianna Williams, left, and Airman Madalyn Duke, 66th Security Forces Squadron entry controllers, wear female body armor during a shoot, communicate, and move training at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., June 29. The newest issue of body armor was designed specifically to fit females during combat and contingency operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lauren Russell)

September 5, 2024 by Claire Pak

Dr. Michael Roy, professor of Medicine and deputy director of the Military Traumatic Brain Injury
Initiative at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) to conduct research on the effects of blast exposure among military service members. This funding, made possible through a charitable gift to HJF from retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, former commander of the United States Special Operations Command, will support Roy's pilot study, focusing specifically on how blast exposure affects female warfighters in certain military occupational specialties.

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Retired U.S. Army Col. (Dr.) Michael J. Roy, the director of the Division of Military Internal Medicine and a USU professor, oversees a research portfolio focused on better understanding the human brain and improving therapies to assist in healing the mind in the wake of trauma. (Photo by Ricardo Reyes-Guevara, WRNMMC)

Roy's research will build on his extensive work in understanding the long-term effects of blast exposure on the armed forces, with an emphasis on developing mitigation strategies and protective measures. Roy, who also serves as the director of the Division of Military Internal Medicine at USU, is the principal investigator for the INVICTA (INVestigating traIning assoCiated blasT pAthology) research study. INVICTA is a five-year longitudinal study of the impact of repetitive sub-concussive blast exposure, which to date has assessed 224 study participants with a wide range of measures to determine the effects of blast exposure on various aspects of brain function.

Roy says that the current understanding of blast exposure is still limited, and that studies such as INVICTA are beginning to offer some insight into the actual physiological impact of blast and its long-term effects on service members and veterans. "However," he says, "INVICTA is also limited, as it focuses solely on male study participants. This grant will allow us to conduct additional research to discover if neuroendocrine and physiological differences between male and female service members lead to different risk levels or impacts in women than what has been observed in men."

"Medical research, especially in areas such as heart disease, cancer, and mental illness, has made progress in expanding knowledge of impacts on women's health, and this is an important step in continuing that progress,." says retired Army Col. (Dr.) Paige Waterman, chair of the USU Department of Medicine.

"Women contribute to every aspect of military life and service, and military medical research must consider the effects of illness and injury on all service members, veterans, and family members," USU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Eric Elster agrees.

"I'm honored to be selected for this generous grant," says Roy, "and very pleased to have the opportunity to expand our knowledge of TBI resulting from blast exposure."

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