Kissimmee, Fla.—The Department of Defense’s premier Military Health System Research Symposium grants nine competitive awards annually, and this year, the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine’s Chief Physiologist Karl Friedl, Ph.D., received the Distinguished Service Award.
The Distinguished Service Award honors international partners, federal civilians, individuals in academia or senior U.S. active-duty military who have made career-long contributions towards the success of military medical research for the warfighter. The recognized individual has strengthened the visibility of DoD-sponsored research and has made contributions that involve improvements to overall health and well-being, injury treatment or recovery solutions for the warfighter.
Friedl has spent over 40 years on research for the soldier, with a focus on stress physiology and the limits of human performance. As the Army’s Chief Physiologist, Friedl conceives new research directions, mentors and leads new initiatives, and connects an extensive network of researchers and capabilities. In his 30 years of active-duty service in the Army, he conducted, led, and funded research, serving as the Director of Military Operational Medicine Research Program, Commander of USARIEM, and Director of Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
Over the course of his career, Friedl received many honors, including the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society with the Professional Career Achievement Award, the Parkinson's Action Network and Alzheimer's Association with the Udall and Ronald and Nancy Reagan Award and countless others including the Founder's Award from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the Diabetes Research Leadership Award from the Diabetes Technology Society.
While Friedl feels honored to be recognized, he notes that “research is a team effort involving many people that make it possible, from logisticians, regulatory support staff, and contract officers to the researchers, the research volunteers and many others.”
Friedl emphasized the critical importance of the whole team as well as the larger research community. “Our successes have come about from inspired exchanges and collaborations with a large network of international military medical research partners, strong academic centers with an interest in serving military research needs, our federal partners at National Institute of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NASA, and the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force,” he said.
For another year at MHSRS, Friedl is excited at the prospect of interacting with this intense concentration of military researchers, senior leaders, professors and industry partners. “We have so many important problems to solve and so many great brains working to create new options for the warfighter. The future is always bright!” Friedl said.
USARIEM is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command under the Army Futures Command. USARIEM is internationally recognized as the DOD's premier laboratory for Warfighter health and performance research and focuses on environmental medicine, physiology, physical and cognitive performance, and nutrition research. Located at the Natick Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, USARIEM's mission is to research and deliver solutions to enhance Warfighter health, performance and lethality in all environments.
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2025 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 544808 |
| Location: | KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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