The Geneva Foundation named Lt. Col. Vikhyat Bebarta the 2014 Researcher of the Year. Bebarta is the director of the Air Force 59th Medical Wing En Route Care Research Center at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He is also the chief of medical toxicology in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the San Antonio Military Medical Center and the director of the Clinical Resuscitation, Emergency Services and Toxicology Research Center for the Air Force 59th Medical Wing.

According to a Geneva Foundation press release, the Researcher of the Year Award is presented to a researcher who exemplifies Geneva's mission of advancing innovative medical research within the U.S. military, for the benefit of U.S. service members and veterans, their families and the global community.

"I am humbled to receive this national, prestigious award recognizing the top military clinical investigator in 2014," said Bebarta. "I am fortunate to have been considered in the same line of the other elite research nominees."

"Geneva's Researcher of the Year Award was established by its Scientific Advisory Board in 2014 as a way to recognize and honor researchers within the U.S. military who have truly shaped military medicine in the delivery of better treatment options, therapies and healthcare practices for our service members and the public at large," stated Dr. David Shoultz, chair of Geneva's Scientific Advisory Board in the press release. "Geneva's Scientific Advisory Board was honored to receive and evaluate nominees from Geneva's management team in areas of research quality, dissemination, mentorship, innovation, collaboration and impact."

Bebarta and Geneva have partnered for more than six years on research projects in emergency medicine, combat casualty care and toxicology.

"The Geneva Foundation is a strong organization that has supported the military clinical investigator for many years and I am fortunate to have received their support," Bebarta said. "While they named me the recipient, the award is a group award describing the achievements of many, not one."

Bebarta acknowledged the collaboration from the research staff at the Air Force En Route Care Research Center; the Air Force CREST; the Air Force 59th Medical Wing; the USAISR and the USAISR Joint Trauma System; and the SAMMC and other sites.

"More importantly it represents the work to better the survival, the lives and the families of the Airmen, Marines, Sailors and Soldiers we treat in combat and at home," Bebarta said.

Bebarta was selected as the Research of the Year from among six finalists including Lt. Col. Luis M. Alvarez, director of the Center for Molecular Science and academy professor at the United States Military Academy; Dr. Andriy I. Batchinsky, a USAISR research scientist with the Combat Critical Care Engineering Task Area; David J. Fitzgerald, a senior investigator with the National Cancer Institute; Col. Stephen Harrison, a SAMMC director of Graduate Medical Education and gastroenterology consultant to the Army Surgeon General; and Patricia S. Steeg, a deputy chief with the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute.