View all photos of the 2016 Military Health System Research Symposium
winners on Flickr.

Last week, the 24th annual Military Health System Research Symposium came to another successful close on Aug. 18 in Kissimmee, Florida.

With the best turnout to date, the 2016 MHSRS attracted a record 2,400+ attendees, compared to last year's final count of 2,004.

Registration wasn't the only growth this year's symposium saw. This year's event not only had to change venue in light of the increase in event interest, but coordinators also expanded from a one-tract to a four-tract focus; breaking out each afternoon into 8 simultaneous breakout sessions versus last year's 4. The number of scientific poster abstracts accepted also grew from 1,026 last year to 1,051.

In addition to lectures on the latest in military-unique research and development, the MHSRS also serves as an excellent opportunity to highlight top experts in their respective fields. This year's winners are listed below.

2016 MHSRS Award Winners:

• 2016 MHSRS Distinguished Service Award ' Dr. Steven Cohen, retired U.S. Army, professor and chief of pain medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine


• 2016 MHSRS Individual/Military Research Accomplishment Award ' Lt. Francis "Jay" Haran, research psychologist, Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory


• 2016 MHSRS Team/Academia Research Accomplishment Award, Category: Health Information Technology/Informatics ' Team members include:
  • (Team Lead) Dr. Kayvan Najarian, Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor lab director
  • Dr. Kevin Ward, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor lab co-director
  • Dr. Reza Soroushmehr, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor postdoctoral researcher
  • Dr. Ashwin Belle, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor research faculty
  • Dr. Sardar Ansari, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor postdoctoral researcher
  • Dr. Rodney Daniels, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor clinical researcher
  • Negar Farzaneh, M.S. Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ph.D. Student


• 2016 MHSRS Team/Military Research Accomplishment Award for Outstanding Research Accomplishment ' Team members include:
  • (Team Lead) Capt. Mark S. Riddle, Naval Medical Research Center
  • Dr. Chad K. Porter, NMRC
  • Dr. Ramiro L. Gutierrez, NMRC
  • Dr. David Tribble, Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences
  • Ms. Jamie Fraser, USUHS
  • Mr. Josh Kumpf, USUHS
  • Mr. Greer Greene, USUHS
  • Col. Patrick Connor, UK Military Enteric Research Group
  • Lt. Col. Emma Hutley, UK Military Enteric Research Group
  • Maj. Brett Swierczewski, U.S. Army Medical Research Unit ' Kenya (Kericho Microhub)
  • Maj. Brook Danboise, USAMRU-K
  • Capt. Christine Hulseberg, USAMRU-K
  • Ms. Margaret Koeach, USAMRU-K
  • Dr. Elizabeth Odundo, USAMRU-K
  • Lt. Cmdr. Mark Simons, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 (Lima, Peru)
  • Dr. Giselle Soto, NAMRU-6
  • Dr. Ricardo Aviles, Joint Task Force Bravo, MEDEL, Soto Cano Air Base (Honduras)
  • Dr. Faviola Reyes, JTF-B, MEDEL
  • Lt. Cmdr. Steve Lizewski, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (Djibouti)
  • Mr. Cliff Philip, NAMRU-3
  • Tahiniyat Lalani, U.S. Naval Medical Center Portsmouth


• 2016 MHSRS Young Investigator Award:
  • 1st Place ' Maj. Neil Einsten, Royal Center for Defence Medicine, Birmingham, United Kingdom, Heterotopic Ossification ' A Novel Way to Treat and Prevent this Military "Epidemic"
  • 2nd Place ' Dr. Kristen Reddoch, U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, San Antonio, Texas, Platelet Additive Solution (PAS) & Storage at 4 Degrees C Protect Platelets from Induction of Apoptosis Compared to Storage at Room Temperature or in Plasma Feasibility of 15-Day Platelet Storage
  • 3rd Place ' Capt. Michael S. Lallemand, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Washington, No IV, No Problem: Intraosseous Administration of Tranexamic Acid is as Effective as Intravenous in a Porcine Hemorrhage Model


• 2016 MHSRS Poster Awards ' Best in Show:
  • An Ex-Vivo ECMO Model Generates Pro-Thrombotic Platelet-Derived Micro-Particles
    • Authors: Andrew Meyer, Anjana Raghunath, Robin Kamucheka, Armando Rodriguez, Crystal Lafleur, Bijaya Parida, Michael Scherer, Andriy Batchinsky, Leopoldo Cancio and Andrew Cap
    • University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas; U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; The Geneva Foundation, Tacoma, Washington


• 2016 MHSRS Poster Awards ' Poster Session 1:
  • 1st Place ' Evaluation of Novel Antimicrobial Peptides as Topical Anti-Infectives with Broad-Spectrum Activity against Combat-Related Bacterial & Fungal Wound Infection
    Authors: Louis Clemens, Kathryn Woodburn, Jesse Jaynes, Mina Izadjoo and Ed Lim
  • 2nd Place ' Dynamic Modeling of Fibrinolysis using Reduced Order Effective Kinetic Models
    Authors: Adithya Sagar, Thomas Orfeo, Kathleen Brummel-Ziedins, Rachel LeCover and Jeffrey Varner
  • 3rd Place ' Non-Invasive Detection of Laser-Induced Retinal Injury in a Multi-Exposure Model
    Authors: Melissa Naiman, Rachida Bouhenni, Jeffrey Dunmire, Ying Liu, Qundeel Rafiq, David Gothar, Rafat Ansari and Deepak Edward
  • Honorable Mention ' Antimicrobial Biomaterial for Infection Control and Improved Healing of Soft Tissue Trauma
    Authors: Christopher Miller, Tanvi Karnik, Michael Jerram, Barnaby May and Brian Ward
  • Honorable Mention ' Examination of Psychosocial Factors in Offender and Non-Offender Army Populations with and without Combat Experience
    Authors: Stephanie Traynham, Colby Matthews and Amanda Hayes


• 2016 MHSRS Poster Awards ' Poster Session 2:
  • 1st Place ' Toward Automated Detection of Perihepatic and Perisplesnic Hematomas: The Use of 3D Ultrasound
    Authors: Mariya Gusman and Shane Anderson
  • 2nd Place ' Physiological Effects of 'Pre-Hospital' Resuscitation with HBOC Compared to Saline & Packed Red Cells: Plasma in Two Models of Severe Injury
    Authors: Emrys Kirkman, Kenneth Burhop, Sam Hutchings, Peter Mahoney, Kim Vandegriff, A. Walker and S. Watts
  • 3rd Place ' The Impact of Transport Time on Outcomes Following Evacuation from Point of Injury
    Authors: Joseph Maddry, Crystal Perez, Stephanie Russell, Lauren Reeves, Alejandra Mora, Tuan Le and Vikhyat Bebarta
  • Honorable Mention ' There's an APP for that: A Handheld Smartphone-based Infrared Imaging Device to Assess Adequacy and Level of Aortic Occlusion in the Setting of Profound Shock Physiology
    Authors: Kyle Sokol, George Black, Sandra Wiley, Kevin Kniery, Matthew Eckert and Matthew Martin
  • Honorable Mention ' Impact of Austere Environmental Conditions on the Accuracy of the ABORhCard®
    Authors: Vincent Duncan and Wilbur Malloy


• 2016 MHSRS Poster Awards ' Poster Session 3:
  • 1st Place ' Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening: Evidence for an Emerging Tool to Augment Current mTBI Assessments
    Authors: Anthony Kontos, Michael Collins, Anne Mucha, Alicia Sufrinko, Melissa Womble, Jamie McAllister, R.J. Elbin, Joseph Furman, Cara Troutman-Enseki, Valerie Reeves, Cyndi Holland, Greg Marchetti and Erin Reynolds
  • 2nd Place ' Validation of Visual Objectives Biomarkers for Acute Concussion
    Authors: Jose Capo-Aponte, Wesley Cole, Thomas Beltran, David Walsh and Joseph Dumayas
  • 3rd Place - Longitudinal Investigation of Neurotrauma Serum Biomarkers, Behavioral Characterization, and Brain Imaging in Soldiers Following Repeated Low-Level Blast Exposure (New Zealand Breacher Study)
    Authors: Gary Kamimori, Christina LaValle, James Stone, Walter Carr and Charmaine Tate
  • Honorable Mention ' Biomechanical Outcomes of Unilateral Limb Lengthening Procedures for Service Members with Bilateral Transfemoral Amputations: A Case Series
    Authors: Barri Schnall, Elizabeth Bell, Benjamin Potter and Jean-Claude G. D'Alleyrand
  • Honorable Mention ' Biomarker Levels of Aβ and Tau Correspond to PET Imaging of Amyloid and FDG in Chronic TBI Patients
    Authors: David Okonkwo, Nora Presson, Davneet Minhas, Brian Lopresti, Charles Laymon James Mountz, Chester Mathis, Julie Price, Ava Puccio, Kathryn Edelman, Steven Benso, Anthony Kontos, Michael Collins, Walter Schneider and Milos Ikonomovic

Award winner information from this year's MHSRS can also be found online at: https://mhsrs.amedd.army.mil/sitepages/Awards.aspx.

Photos of this year's award winners are also available on the USAMRMC Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usamrmc/albums/72157672820849516.

Closing out yet another successful year of medical advancements in support of the Nation's Warfighters, this premier scientific meeting will continue to build momentum in the coming years... marching forward into the future of medical research in support of not just Soldiers, but the world at large.