NMCP’s CTRG Wins Medical Research Award

PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES

10.21.2020

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Dylan Kinee 

Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (Oct. 16, 2020) – Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) Combat Trauma Research Group (CTRG) recently received the Fiscal Year 2019 Medical Research Program Rapid Development and Translational Research Award and $1.5M in funding for their collaboration with outside entities to make a ruggedized, handheld coagulation reading device, the ClotChip.
The ClotChip, a device currently in clinical trials, measures a patient's bleeding risk. When the device is ruggedized, it will be able to withstand the excessive impact and vibration of an operational military environment or patient transport.
“As operational commands go into austere environments, resources are limited and have to be refrigerated,” said Lt. Cmdr. Sean Stuart, NMCP’s senior medical officer of the Emergency Department and director of the CTRG. “With the ClotChip, it could allow you to adequately figure out who needs blood and how much they need.”
When Dr. Emily Fredrick, the CTRG’s program manager, started working at NMCP a year and a half ago, she was reading about coagulopathy when she came across the ClotChip. She reached out to the company and was able to set up a collaboration.
“The device was already in clinical trials with mainly hemophilia,” Fredrick said. “With the collaboration of NMCP and outside entities, at NMCP it’s going to be the first time that it’s tested in a trauma induced coagulopathy.”
The DoD Rapid Development and Translational Research Award program seeks to develop innovative solutions to increase medical readiness, mitigate fatalities, optimally treat life-threatening injuries and promote positive long-term outcomes. The NMCP collaborative project with Case Western University and Xatek was one of only seven out of 168 proposals that won the award and funding.
“It was probably hundreds of hours that went into this development,” Stuart said. “We’re very happy to hear that a clinically focused team of expert researchers and clinicians are competing with and winning grants over designated research institutions. There are things that the civilian community are developing that we simply cannot develop alone. This just shows that these collaborations are absolutely critical for both resources and keeping up with new technology.”
As the U.S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area's 10 branch health and TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.

• Date Taken: 10.21.2020
• Date Posted: 10.21.2020 14:52
• Story ID: 381388
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VA, US