TATRC Shines at Annual MHSRS
November 8, 2018 | Download PDF
The 2018 Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) offered a great opportunity for members of the TATRC team to present their current research efforts. The annual MHSRS took place 20 – 23 August in Kissimmee, FL and provided a unique atmosphere for TATRC to showcase some of its latest work, and to introduce our new Director to our key industry partners and stakeholders.
TATRC’s new Director, COL Gina Adam (left) was introduced to research partners and key stakeholders within the MHS during the event.
The Annual MHSRS is the Department of Defense’s premier scientific meeting that focuses on Combat Casualty Care (CCC). It combines three previous conferences, including the former Advanced Technology Applications for Combat Casualty Care Conference (ATACCC); the Air Force Medical Service Medical Research Symposium; and the Navy Medicine Research Conference under its umbrella. It’s a jam-packed, four day meeting where DoD partners can come together to share valuable insights and gain knowledge from various research areas in each of the Services.
For TATRC, this was extremely beneficial as we were selected to deliver a total of five oral presentations including three from our Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute (BHSAI) team, one from our Mobile Health Innovation Center (mHIC) and one from our Medical Intelligent Systems Lab (MISL).
TATRC’s own Dr. Sridhar Ramakrishnan, of the BHSAI giving his presentation on the widely reported “2B-Alert App: A Validated Tool to Predict Individual Warfighter Alertness in Real Time.”Dr. Sridhar Ramakrishnan of BHSAI gave a presentation entitled: “2B-Alert App: A Validated Tool to Predict Individual Warfighter Alertness in Real Time,” which was a well-attended session on Management of Sleep & Fatigue for Maximization of Soldier Operational Readiness. BHSAI’s Dr. Srinivas Laxminarayan gave a presentation entitled: “An Artificial Intelligence System for Real-Time Individualized Core Temperature Estimation” during an Enhancing Human Performance & Survivability in Extreme Environments session and Dr. Jose Rubio, also of BHSAI, presented: “Is There a Need for a High-Fidelity Computational Model to Characterize Brain Responses to Primary Blast Exposure?” during the session on Blast-Related Trauma. Ms. Amanda Schmeltz, Project Manager for TATRC’s mHIC, gave a talk entitled: “Development of Mobile Web-Based Application for Pre and Post-Operative Patient Education of the Military Surgery Patient” during the popular Telehealth / Virtual Health / Remote Monitoring in the Military Health System (MHS) session. Finally, Dr. Gary Gilbert, Lead for TATRC’s MISL, spoke during the session on Clinical Decision Support, Robotic & Autonomous Systems with a talk entitled: “The Virtual Lab: New Medical Science & Technology Research Task Areas in Medical Intelligent Systems Require Paradigm Shift.”
Additionally, TATRC’s Medical Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Lab Manager, Mr. Geoff Miller, was on hand to moderate an engaging panel discussion on The Future of Medical Simulation in the Continuum of Care.
Dr. Gary Gilbert, Program Manager for Medical Intelligent Systems giving his presentation entitled “The Virtual Lab: New Medical Science & Technology Research Task Areas in Medical Intelligent Systems Require Paradigm Shift,” coauthored by TATRC’s Mr. Nathan Fisher!TATRC also had a presence during the Scientific Poster Session with three new posters on display.
MHSRS is also a forum where TATRC’s AMEDD Advanced Medical Technology Initiative (AAMTI) gets to shine each year through the various oral and poster presentations from its recipients. There were seven oral presentations and four posters from Investigators that were funded by the AAMTI Program, with one of the projects nominated in the Young Investigator Competition.
Notably, this AAMTI Rapid Innovation Funding awardee, CPT Michael Derickson, a resident in the general surgery program at Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC), took the 2nd place award in the Young Investigator Competition and was selected from 356 entries. In his research, CPT Derickson evaluated the effectiveness of night vision goggles to conduct lifesaving surgical procedures under light and noise discipline. The results are extremely relevant to the doctrine and deployment of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma team-based trauma care in the disaggregated future operating environment. CPT Sheldon Rowan accepted the MHSRS award on behalf the entire team.
In addition to these presentations and posters, the TATRC team had abundant opportunities to meet with current and potential future research partners, including, to the Uniformed Services University (USUHS) Vice President for Research, Dr. Yvonne Maddox and her staff.
Ms. Amanda Schmeltz, from TATRC’s mHIC lab, presented “Development of Mobile Web-Based Application for Pre- and Post-Operative Patient Education of the Military Surgery Patient,” at this year’s MHSRS.Even with all the excitement and insightful discussions that MHSRS brings, TATRC had the distinct pleasure to introduce and announce the arrival of our new Director, COL Gina E. Adam. During the conference, TATRC leadership held an informal meet and greet session for COL Adam to be introduced to a number of our existing research partners and key stakeholders throughout the MHS. The conference was one of the most opportune and all-inclusive ways for COL Adam to not only get to introduce herself, but also for our partners to learn more about the direction that TATRC is headed in the future.
TATRC’s Science Director and Lead for the Virtual Health Support Office, Dr. Francis McVeigh, stated, “The TATRC Team was once again fully engaged in this thought-provoking conference and was able to meet with key members across the MHS to discuss further collaborations that can take our ongoing research to the next level in order to ultimately help our Warfighters.” TATRC is looking forward to what the 2019 MHSRS Conference will bring.
This article was published in the November 2018 issue of the TATRC Times.