Photo By Tommy Lamkin | KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Aug. 5, 2025) Navy Medicine Research & Development (NMR&D) personnel...... read more read more
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The eight Navy Medicine Research and Development (NMR&D) commands wrapped up attendance at the Military Health Systems Research Symposium (MHSRS), which began on August 04 and concluded on August 07.
MHSRS, a four-day event which takes place annually at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Conference Center, provided personnel with multiple forums to demonstrate the impact NMR&D research has on the DoD warfighter.
Over 100 NMR&D personnel attended MHSRS this year, including military, civilian and contractor research, medical and support personnel. Attendees participated in a range of conference activities, speaking at 26 breakout sessions, presenting 95 research posters across three poster sessions and engaging with stakeholders and potential collaborators throughout the Military Health System.
“This year’s MHSRS was an outstanding demonstration of how the talented scientists of Navy Medicine Research and Development work together to field medical solutions in support of Joint Force health and readiness,” said Capt. Franca Jones, commander, Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC). “This year’s symposium highlighted extensive collaborations between commands in NMR&D, other service laboratories, and industry and academia.”
“MHSRS is really an opportunity to help our junior researchers understand our military medical research environment,” said Capt. William Howard, commanding officer of Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU)-Dayton. “We also use it as an opportunity for our seasoned researchers to remain calibrated and find opportunities. We try to maximize our participation for the benefit of our command as well as for military research in general.”
During the opening plenary session, two NMR&D commands were recognized. Justin Handy, from the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) in Groton, CT, received the Outstanding Research Accomplishment for a Military Team award on behalf of the Naval Psychological Readiness and Human Performance team. The team was recognized for their work to improve submariner and nuclear-operator screening, career prediction, and individual coaching, which fosters readiness, professional development, leadership, team performance, and retention within the Submarine Force.
Dr. Doug Jones, Dr. Timothy Dunn, and John Marciano, from the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) in San Diego, CA, received the Warfighter Medicine Research Public Communication Award for their work raising public awareness of their DOD-sponsored medical research in the area of arctic performance.
“Dr. Jones, Dr. Dunn, and their team of top scientists work diligently in the background to help our sailors and soldiers do their jobs in the harshest of environments.” Said Dr. Ken Earhart, NHRC scientific director. “It’s exciting and immensely rewarding when the world takes notice, recognizing their individual achievements, showcasing the real-world impact of their important research, and offering inspiration to others to pursue careers in STEM.”
Three NMR&D poster presentations were recognized during the final awards ceremony, out of over 1400 posters from throughout the three poster sessions. Dr. Sabrina Snyder, from NAMRU San Antonio, was awarded first place for her poster on the survival analysis of a dental self-healing composite, and Dr. Kayla Septer, from NMRC, was awarded second place, for her poster on the antigenic characterization of currently circulating seasonal influenza strains. Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Crouch, from NHRC, was given an honorable mention for Poster Session 2 for his presentation on using anomaly seasonality decomposition and artificial neural network modeling to predict febrile respiratory illness among U.S. military recruitment populations.
Dr. Elliot Dirr, of NAMRU-Dayton, was also recognized during this ceremony, getting third place in the Young Investigators competition, for his presentation on how the partial pressure of oxygen and nitrogen impacts the development of noise-induced hearing loss.
“This year we had two oral presentations, nine posters and two session chairs, and we’re especially proud of Dr. Elliott Dirr for his win in the young investigators category,” said Howard. “Our command cultivates the mindset of starting all research endeavors with the needs of the warfighter, and I know that is reflected in our contributions to military medical research.”
With over 3500 registrants this year, MHSRS presents a unique opportunity for researchers and leadership to meet with future collaborators in the Military Health System.
NMR&D is led by NMRC, and is comprised of NSMRL, NHRC, and NAMRU Dayton, San Antonio, INDO PACIFIC, EURAFCENT, and SOUTH.
MHSRS is the DoD’s premier scientific meeting that focuses specifically on the unique medical needs of service members. This annual educational symposium brings together healthcare professionals, researchers, and DoD leaders for four days of critical learning, intensive idea sharing and relationship building.
NMR&D, a global collective of eight commands, conducts research in support of Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighter health, readiness and lethality, across a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. NMR&D studies infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, directed energy health effects, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.
| Date Taken: | 08.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.11.2025 08:16 |
| Story ID: | 545308 |
| Location: | KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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