NMRDC Demonstrates Technologies for Military Readiness and Response

Official Statements

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “NORFOLK, Virginia — Sailors with Navy Medicine Research and Development Command (NMRDC) supervised demonstrations of various medical field technologies at the Accelerated Solution Exploration (ASE) event aboard wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) on 9 October. ASE, hosted by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Joint Science and Technology Office, provided NMRDC staff with the opportunity to determine how advanced technologies meant to rapidly detect, identify and characterize biological threats will work in the shipboard environment.”

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “The Department of War wants to see how these devices will work on ships, and to get feedback from far-forward units on how they might use them,” said Lt. Cmdr. Emily Stefanov, Deputy Director of NMRDC’s Biological Defense Research Directorate (BDRD).”

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “We’re spreading detection capabilities across different Areas of Responsibility,” added Lt. Cameron Sayer, deputy head of NMRDC’s Genomics and Bioinformatics Department. “Sailors generate the data on the ship and then push that data back to the BDRD Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, where the actual analysis is performed. We can then provide them with information based on that analysis.”

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “BDRD regularly provides testing and reachback support for U.S. Navy ships across the globe, to stay abreast of and quickly respond to outbreaks of disease, identify proper countermeasures, and maintain the health of warfighters anytime, anywhere. “It's a force health protection initiative overall,” explained Kimberly Bishop-Lilly, head of NMRDC’s Genomics and Bioinformatics Department. “The idea behind testing these technologies on a ship is to see if we can shorten our time to detection and analysis to better protect the sailors in the event of a biological threat.”

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “BDRD staff, alongside partners with Naval Research Laboratory, previously instructed Sailors aboard Iwo Jima on how to run DNA extraction and sequencing. ASE provided an opportunity for the directorate to follow up on that initial instruction and evaluate the Sailors’ progress.”

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “We had them in charge of running the entire protocol from start to finish as a simulated scenario,” Sayer explained. Events such as ASE also provide opportunities to recruit talented Sailors to help advance the mission of Navy Medicine Research and Development on behalf of U.S. service members around the world. “It's giving Sailors exposure to the technology and a better understanding of how BDRD does what it does to push technologies forward, shorten the time to answer and enable faster emergency response,” said Bishop-Lilly.”

• Navy Medicine Research and Development Command, November 13: “NMRDC is the headquarters of the Navy Medicine Research & Development collective. We deliver research solutions to enhance the health, readiness and lethality of the joint warfighter, supporting the full spectrum of military operations from the laboratory to the battlefield. Navy Medicine's 44,000+ talented and ready forces optimize health readiness, deliver quality healthcare and provide global expeditionary medical support to warfighters.”