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NEWS | April 25, 2022

NAMRU San Antonio, 59th MDW, USAISR participate in Military Medical Industry Day

By Burrell Parmer Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio Public Affairs

The City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Economic Development Department Corporation and VelocityTX hosted the third Military Medical Industry Day at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center April 19.

This year’s MMID featured San Antonio's leading military medical research missions including the Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, the Air Force's 59th Medical Wing, and the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research.

Attendees heard welcoming remarks from Mayor Ron Nirenberg and a keynote presentation from U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Katherine Simonson, the Defense Health Agency’s Research & Development Directorate deputy assistant director.

According to the mayor, bioscience and healthcare is an $11.3 million dollar industry in the region that employs more than 157,000 people.

“The City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Economic Development Department Corporation and VelocityTX are excited to host this event again,” Nirenberg said. “San Antonio – Military City USA – is at the intersection of military, commercial and academic assets that help us grow our bioscience ecosystem.”

Simonson was appreciative to have been provided the opportunity to share information regarding changes within DHA and how changes impact the services, industry and academia.

“As DHA is evolving, our mission has not changed; however, as a combat support agency, the DHA leads the military system in integration of readiness,” Simonson said.  “Medical readiness responsibility from combatant commanders to the services span the gamut of research and development, information technology support, pharmacy, logistics, public health and force health protection.

“We are looking very forward to partnering with industry and academia who are working hard, as well as our military services, to development solutions, knowledge products and collaborate to bring solutions for capability gaps to our service members,” Simonson added.

Dr. Sylvain Cardin, NAMRU San Antonio’s chief science director, briefed the attendees on the mission, organizational makeup, and importance of NAMRU San Antonio while Dr. Scott Walter, 59th MWD director of technology, and Lt. Col. Ronnie Hill, USAISR Research Directorate executive officer, briefed their organizations’ mission and capabilities.

Informational/instructional presentations were featured during the morning session while the afternoon session provided opportunities for attendees to meet semi-privately with panels of subject matter experts from all three services to ask questions and receive immediate feedback about proposal submissions and requirements, pitch ideas, and clarifications on preferred research approaches.

Conceived as part of the City of San Antonio's Military Life Science Commercialization Action Plan, the MMID events bring together military researcher organizations, industry, academia, non-profit organizations, and other organizations to exchange ideas and enable collaborative medical R&D, discuss military needs, obtain information on funding opportunities, and enable community commercialization opportunities to address needs and create lifesaving technologies.

NAMRU San Antonio’s mission is to conduct gap-driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of Department of Defense personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations.

NAMRU San Antonio is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.