Researchers and clinicians from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, were among the 2,005 attendees at the 2015 Military Health System Research Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Aug. 17-20.

The four-day conference was designed for communicating and disseminating new scientific knowledge resulting from military-specific research and development specifically for the medical needs of the Warfighter.

MHSRS is the Department of Defense's premier scientific meeting sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs that brings together military, academia and industry leaders and researchers to share and discuss research topics related to healthcare initiatives under the topics of combat casualty care, military operational medicine, clinical and rehabilitative medicine and military infectious diseases to maximize research synergy for the DOD.

USAISR staff members presented 73 posters, 28 oral presentations and were moderators and co-moderators of 11 sessions during the conference.

"This is an important conference for our staff to attend," said USASIR Commander Col. (Dr.) Michael Wirt. "It's an opportunity for us to highlight the work that is done every day at the Institute to optimize combat casualty care. It is also an opportunity see what other combat casualty care researchers are doing and establish and maintain enduring relationships for possible future collaborations."

During the conference, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Andrew Cap, Chief of the Coagulation and Blood Research Program, was awarded the Individual Military Outstanding Research Accomplishment Award for research on cold-stored platelets.

In the poster competition USAISR staff received first place and an honorable mention. The poster awarded first place was titled: "Burn Scars Modulation Through Laser Delivery of Stem Cells" and included Robert Christy, Ph.D., Sandra Becerra, and Shanmugasundaram Natesan, Ph.D. on the research team. The poster that received an honorable mention was titled: "Antibiotic-Loaded Keratin Hydrogels as a First-Line Therapy for Battlefield Burns" and included Daniel Roy, Ph.D., Christine Kowalczewski, Ph.D., Robert Christy, Ph.D., and Kameel Isaac on the research team.

"This was one of the most productive MHSRS conferences in recent memory," said USAISR Director of Research Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kevin Chung. "Overall, there was a high palpable level of enthusiasm for and dedication to serving wounded Service Members through innovative research. ISR maintained an elite presence throughout the conference."

"I am very proud of everyone's work before and during the conference," said Wirt. "We are the Army's premiere combat casualty care research laboratory, and we prove it every day."

MHSRS combined three previous conferences, including the former Advanced Technology Applications for Combat Casualty Care Conference; the Air Force Medical Service Medical Research Symposium; and the Navy Medicine Research Conference. By combining these conferences into one event, the meeting serves as a critical strategy session for leaders to set future milestones for the DOD's deployment-related medical research programs, centered on the needs of the Warfighter.