Sept. 12, 2024

Could a virus be the cure?

KENYA, Kericho — The river is the heart of the Nyagacho area of Kericho, Kenya, in more ways than one. Flowing through the center of the settlement, it’s a hub of community activity where people gather to bathe, wash clothes and water cattle. The river also receives an inflow of wastewater, leaving sections of the waterway contaminated and teeming with potentially harmful germs. While most would recognize these polluted water sources as a health hazard and steer clear, infectious disease researchers Martin Georges and Moses “Musa” Gachoya seek them out to try to find helpful bacteriophages that can combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Aug. 23, 2024

How the DoD's One Health Initiative Enabled Three Scientists to Chart Their Career Paths

NAVRONGO, Kassena-Nankana District, Ghana — Ms. Bernice Baako, Ms. Deborah Narwortey, and Ms. Jane Ansah-Owusu discussed how the Navrongo Integrated Surveillance Project (NISP), a collaboration between the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) in the U.S., Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical

July 1, 2024

Researchers commemorate HIV Vaccine Awareness Day with showcase event

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research recently held its inaugural HIV Young Investigators’ Showcase on May 13. Brig. Gen. Edward Bailey, commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, opened the event which featured early- and mid-career researchers presenting their work on MHRP’s efforts in HIV vaccine and cure research. The event concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing the best presenters and knowledge products.

June 28, 2024

BBB Infographic provides sleep hygiene tips for Warfighters

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Researchers from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research’s Behavioral Biology Branch have developed an infographic to provide sleep hygiene practices for optimal warfighter alertness under extreme weather and seasonal light variations. The ramifications of sleep deprivation are significant for warfighter readiness: the Behavioral Biology Branch’s 2022 study reported that soldiers with inadequate sleep were more than twice as likely to report a health problem, and those reporting cold weather sleep disturbances were more than five times as likely to report a health problem.

May 9, 2024

Behavioral Health training adds new GEAR for combat medics

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's Military Psychiatry Branch have developed and implemented a new training program and study called Behavioral Health Guidelines for mEdic Assessment and Response (BH-GEAR). The program is designed to equip medics without prior behavioral health training to conduct assessments and treatment of behavioral health concerns in far-forward areas. For more information about BH-GEAR, contact the Military Psychiatry Branch at wrair.health.mil.

May 1, 2024

Retired SMA Grinston highlights Army Emergency Relief Fund and the importance of mentorship

SILVER SPRING — Army Emergency Relief Fund CEO and retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston visited the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research to speak with Service Members and leaders on how AER supports financial readiness during a town hall Feb. 22. During the town hall, which served as one of the first opportunities to promote the 2024 AER campaign, Grinston emphasized how AER assistance can help avoid a potential downward spiral for members facing interpersonal conflict due to financial distress. The 2024 AER campaign occurs from March 1 to June 14, 2024.

April 30, 2024

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research hosts Family and Child VIP Day

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Members from Walter Reed Army Institute of Research’s Science Education and Fellowships and Strategic Communications teams partnered with the Naval Medical Research Command to coordinate and host Family and Child VIP Day with multiple groups across WRAIR, NMRC and the National Museum of Health and Medicine on April 25.Family and Child VIP Day

April 5, 2024

Navrongo Integrated Surveillance Project: DOD promotes STEM and One Health Concept in Ghana classroom

NAVRONGO, Kassena-Nankana District, Ghana — Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research’s (WRAIR) One Health Branch partnered with the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine and Ghana’s Navrongo Health Research Centre to teach a STEM curriculum on collecting climate data for zoonotic disease prevention in three Ghanaian high schools. Through this program, the Navrongo Integrated Surveillance Project (NISP), students and scientists examined how local weather conditions, combined with disease prevalence, disease perceptions, and livestock cultivation practices, exacerbate the spread of zoonotic diseases. Funded by the Global Health Engagement Research Initiative, NISP leverages the Joint West Africa Research Group-led RV466 study titled “Severe Infectious Disease: Surveillance, Risks, and Consequences in West Africa” along with entomologic surveillance, xenosurveillance, STEM engagements, and ethnographic surveys. The NISP project results demonstrated the importance of teacher-student involvement in understanding the relationship between the environment and disease prevention.

Dec. 27, 2023

WRAIR’s Aquatics Lab helps identify potential sepsis drug candidates

FORT DETRICK, Md. — Researchers at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Experimental Therapeutics Branch, recently succeeded in screening more than 600 drugs in only four months to help identify new medicines capable of preventing sepsis, a life-threatening complication of combat wound infections.

Dec. 15, 2023

Warrior Mindset video focuses on mental skills development

SILVER SPRING, Md. — With funding and support from the Uniformed Services University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS), Suicide Prevention Program, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) released their latest training video on mental skills that service members can use to sustain themselves during high-stress operations.