Commander's Blog

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and brain injury research and treatment remains a major part of our USAMMDA mission. This past year, we saw tremendous success with our Laboratory Assay for Traumatic Brain Injury program, which received FDA approval for the first-ever blood-based assay used to detect instances of mild TBI. Even more recently, our Neurotrauma and Psychological Health PMO announced the award of Army funds to our commercial partner to conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial to validate the i-STAT TBI assay in whole blood. This handheld point-of-care device will help to detect mTBI far-forward on the battlefield – leading to faster diagnosis and treatment of our injured Warfighters. Without a doubt, our USAMMDA team continues to do its part to help ensure the health and safety of our Service Members, for various types of brain injuries as well as other wounds.

With the start of the spring season last week, we're finally heading out of the snowy, cold weather and moving into some warmer days. With "spring cleaning" in mind, we're definitely getting a jump on this as we begin the mold remediation process throughout our building. I'm happy to say the contract for this important job has been awarded, so there will be some deep cleaning taking place soon to mitigate some of the issues we've had because of the mold problem. We really appreciate everyone's patience as we work through this process, and we'll be implementing a rolling work-from-home schedule so the cleaning service can do their job properly and without interruption. We're doing our best to keep up our facility, but this is tough sometimes due to the age of the building. However, please be assured that we always strive for optimum working conditions, as the health and safety of our staff comes first.

Speaking of safety, I'm very happy and proud to announce that USAMMDA did extremely well with its ASHMS safety inspection last month, and our organization has been recommended for Safety Star recertification! This is a huge accomplishment and a great testament to our culture of safety, in and around our building. Thanks to everyone for making this happen once again!

Another safety issue that we should always consider is ergonomics. The way we sit, lift and move can make a very big difference when it comes to physical pain and preventing injuries. Many of us may be dealing with some amount of back and neck pain, but we can really work towards mitigating this by taking the proper steps and precautions during our normal work routine. Just getting up and moving around regularly can help with joint stiffness, and there are many other great tips as well. You can find a good deal of information about office ergonomics online, but if you have any questions or concerns you'd like to discuss, please reach out to Marvin Saunders, our USAMMDA equipment specialist. I'm sure Marvin will be able to help answer these questions for you.

This Thursday, March 28, we're hosting a luncheon party to welcome our new team members from USAMMA. The USAMMDA Social Committee is organizing a soup and sandwich potluck, and I hope many of you can stop by to say "Hello" to our new staff members. I'm sure it will be a great time for all!

Finally, we're in the heat of March Madness, as the tournament is moving into the regional finals! I hope you're having fun with your bracket predictions this year. I'm doing alright with my picks, but we'll have to see what happens – I'm just hoping for more exciting games that come down to the buzzer!

Always remember that we're saving lives with everything we do here at USAMMDA!

COL Ryan Bailey