Commander's Blog

We're just two weeks away from the start of this year's Department of Defense Military Health System Research Symposium in Kissimmee, Florida, and we have about 60 of our team members that are very busy gearing up for this great conference. This year's theme is "Medical Innovation for Warfighter Readiness: The Future Starts Now," and this topic certainly remains on the forefront of everything we do here at USAMMDA. Nearly a dozen of our team members will present important topics during the four-day meeting, and I'm sure this will be of great interest to many attendees.

During the breakout portion of the conference, Kathy Berst will introduce the session, "From Bench to Battlefield: Translating Promising Research into Fielded Capabilities," and will co-present the topic, "U.S. Army Medical Product Development and Acquisition, and Medical Systems Management," along with Dr. Tyler Bennett and Johanna Gilbertz of USAMMA. We also will have a number of USAMMDA team members presenting during the session, "Near Term Priorities & Future Needs for DOD Medical Acquisition Programs." The information coming from these presentations should create an exciting exchange of ideas from thought-leaders in the field, and it wouldn't be surprising to see a number of new products entering our development pipeline in the future as a direct result of this year's conference. Although Florida in August may be as hot as a frying pan, I'm sure that what we'll learn at MHSRS 2018 will be well worth tolerating the heat and humidity for a few days!

August is "National Immunization Awareness Month" across the country, and the Army's Force Health Protection program remains at the forefront of ensuring that our nation's troops are immunized and ready to fight at all times. Since the Revolutionary War, when George Washington vaccinated the Continental Army against smallpox, immunization has been a key factor in protecting our Warfighters. Here at USAMMDA, we're tasked to work on critical vaccines that no other organizations are developing, and this is truly a great privilege for us. Our mission remains vital to the health and welfare of our U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. In fact, for the past decade, our Pharmaceutical Systems Project Management Office has been managing the adenovirus vaccine effort, which helps to protect our military troops against febrile respiratory illness during basic training at various locations. We're also leading the way with vaccines for both dengue and HIV – and we're looking at a number of other vaccine targets in the years ahead, as our successful work in this area is highly regarded throughout the Department of Defense and Army Medicine.

As this is my first blog since her arrival, I'd like to welcome LTC Tyra Fruge to our USAMMDA family as she takes over as our new deputy commander. LTC Fruge is very excited to join our great team, and we're very pleased to have her on board. She certainly will be a great asset to our organization as we continue to push forward with our critical mission of protecting Warfighters throughout the world. Please make sure to welcome LTC Fruge when you see her throughout the building, or when you pass her office in the first floor hallway!

Let's always remember that we're saving lives with everything we do here at USAMMDA!

COL Ryan Bailey