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NAMRU San Antonio increases research prescence at 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium
August 29, 2024 — Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense... MORE

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – (Aug. 28, 2024) – Dr. Annette Rodriguez, of San Antonio, a research scientist, assigned to the Combat Casualty Care and Operational Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio, presented research on Thera-101 Secretome Influence on Angiogenesis and Bone Regeneration during Poster Session Three on day three of the 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center. The MHSRS brings together military, government, academia, and industry experts for four days of critical conversations and intensive idea sharing. Presenters will share their latest research findings and challenges on topics including combat casualty care, military operational medicine, clinical and rehabilitative medicine, medical simulation and information sciences, military infectious diseases, and the radiation health effects. NAMRU San Antonio is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense (DoD) and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Command in Silver Spring, Md. Its mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of DoD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Burrell Parmer, NAMRU San Antonio Public Affairs/Released)

NAMRU San Antonio hosts All Hands, recognizes personnel
July 1, 2024 — To keep the command informed on important topics, Capt. Jennifer Buechel (Nurse Corps), commanding officer of Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, held an All Hands meeting at the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Military and Family Readiness Center on June 27... MORE

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (June 27, 2024) – Commanding Officer Capt. Jennifer Buechel (Nurse Corps), Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio, spoke on the command’s support of the Navy Surgeon General’s Four Lines of Effort during an All Hands meeting held at the Military and Family Readiness Center. 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 (DoD) personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations. It is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the DoD and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Command in Silver Spring, Md. (U.S. Navy photo by Burrell Parmer, NAMRU San Antonio Public Affairs/Released)

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio microbiologist earns Civilian of the Year honors
December 29, 2022 — Dr. Yoon Hwang, a research microbiologist assigned to the Craniofacial Health and Restorative Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, was recognized Dec. 14 as the Fiscal Year 2022 “Science Staff” Civilian of the Year by Capt. Gerald DeLong, NAMRU-SA commanding officer, during Mission Impossible held at the Tri-Service Research Laboratory... MORE

Two NAMRU-SA members recognized by American Society of Military Comptrollers
June 28, 2021 — The American Society of Military Comptrollers, or ASMC, has selected two Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio members for awards recognizing their work within the command... MORE

Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio gains new commanding officer
June 2, 2021 — More than 100 people attended the Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, change of command ceremony at Brooke Army Medical Center's Carolyn D. Putnam Auditorium at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston May 21, where Navy Capt. Gerald DeLong relieved Capt. Andrew Vaughn... MORE

Navy Capt. Gerald DeLong, incoming commander for Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio, is saluted by the sideboys

NAMRU-SA participates in first virtual San Antonio postdoctoral research forum
January 15, 2021 — Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, was one of five academic or scientific research institutions in San Antonio to provide presenters, judges, organizers and attendees for the annual San Antonio Postdoctoral Research Forum, Dec. 7-11, 2020. Due to COVID-19, it was the first time the program went virtual in its eight-year history... MORE

Cmdr. Linda Smith, a Navy Medical Corps doctor and Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio’s executive office.

Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio contributing to COVID-19 fight
June 18, 2020 — In early March, Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, joined the fight against COVID-19 and future pandemic viruses by contributing knowledge from relevant studies and providing backup medical support at Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston... MORE

Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio's chief science director Sylvain Cardin, Ph.D.

NAMRU-SA scientist selected for top Navy science award
June 12, 2020 — Work on biomedical projects, from developing an antivenom to dental research, has earned a Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio researcher an award for being one of the top scientists in the Navy... MORE

Dr. Yoon Hwang, Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio Maxillofacial Injury and Disease Department research scientist.

Local Navy technicians gain practical experience from COVID-19 maintenance backlog
June 10, 2020 — The Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, is giving some graduates of the Navy Medicine Training Support Center Biomedical Equipment Technician School, or BMET, practical experience that attacks one of COVID-19’s side effects, a maintenance backlog... MORE

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio scientists collaborate with Cornell University researcher
November 26, 2018 — Scientists from Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, Biomaterials and Epidemiology Department, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, are collaborating with a Cornell University researcher... MORE

Dr. Sylvain Cardin (center), chief science director, and Dr. Luis Martinez (right), principal investigator, NAMRU-SA, have been discussing future collaborations involving the gut microbiome and the immune system’s response to wound trauma with Dr. Alireza Abbaspourrad (left), a nanoparticle technology researcher in his lab at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Food Science in Ithaca, New York.

NAMRU-SA project developing tools to detect harmful bacteria in wounded warfighters
November 7, 2018 — Finding and developing diagnostic tools that can better identify harmful bacterial pathogens in wounded warfighters is the objective of two projects being conducted at Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston... MORE

Joseph Spano, Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio Craniofacial Health and Restorative Medicine Directorate research engineer, works on a portable Raman spectrometer that is being utilized for a research project at NAMRU-SA focused on the development of diagnostic platforms that can better identify bacterial pathogens in wounded service members. The portable spectrometer is a user-friendly, ruggedized device that is field-deployable and capable of obtaining surface-enhanced Raman scattering, or SERS, spectra which are characteristic to individual bacterial strains. The portable Raman offers superior performance to handheld spectrometers as well as increased spatial resolution when coupled to a microscope. The device is being used for method and platform development as well as to characterize bacteria, build representative spectral libraries and assess classification capabilities.

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio honors researcher
November 1, 2018 — Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio awarded the Tammy Hess Maestas award for Excellence in Laboratory Research to Leasha Stygler for her professional achievement as a Research Assistant III... MORE

Capt. Michele Kane (left) , Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio executive officer, and Capt. Thomas Herzig (right), NAMRU-SA commanding officer, present Leasha Stygler (center),with the Tammy Hess Maestas award for Excellence in Laboratory Research.

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio focuses on improving device to remove dental waste
July 26, 2018 — Improving filtration devices that capture dental waste and keep the environment safe is the focus of a project being conducted at the Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston... MORE

Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Hamlin, Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio Environmental Surveillance Department head and research dentist, demonstrates how an amalgam separator is attached to a dental chair and how it works in removing amalgam waste to prevent it from going into the wastewater system. Hamlin is part of a team of NAMRU-SA researchers who are involved in a project to develop a better prototype of the amalgam separator, a cylindrical device attached to a dental chair that filters amalgam, a mixture of metals including mercury, which is used by dentists for large teeth restorations and to fill in cavities.

JBSA Navy Medicine commands host Navy STEM externship visit
July 3, 2018 — San Antonio area Navy Medicine commands hosted 26 middle and high school guidance counselors, and high school chemistry and health professions educators June 27 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston as part of a summer externship focused on high school student career preparation and exploration... MORE

Lt. Cmdr. Kirby Jahnke, Navy Medicine Training Support Center, shows medical instruments to a tour group of San Antonio middle and high school guidance counselors June 27. The tour provided educators and counselors with a general overview of the Navy, to raise awareness of Navy career opportunities through a tour of the medical training campus.

Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio hosts Alamo STEM educators visit to Navy Research Lab
July 2, 2018 — Scientists at the Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio at the San Antonio Military Medical Center campus at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston hosted 10 high school chemistry and health professions educators for a laboratory tour and “meet the scientists” career path discussion June 27... MORE

High school chemistry and health professions educators from the Alamo STEM Workforce Coalition program visited with scientists at Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio to learn about research career paths in Navy Medicine for their students.

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio educates civic, business leaders
May 31, 2018 — Thirty-four civic and business leaders from the Defense Orientation Conference Association, or DOCA, toured the Naval Medical Research Unit-San Antonio at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston April 27 to see a working Navy medical research lab in action and gain insights to share with fellow civilian leaders in their community... MORE

Duane Cox (right), electronics technician at the Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio talks to Defense Orientation Conference Association visitors about NAMRU-SA’s efforts to develop diagnostic tools to aid first responders/physician to identify and treat directed energy injuries, during a tour of NAMRU-SA facilities at the Tri-Service Research Laboratory at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston April 27.

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio studies effectiveness of potential snakebite treatments
March 7, 2018 — Two researchers at Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston are studying the effectiveness of potential antivenom treatments in improving care for service members with snakebites... MORE

The illustration shows how therapeutic phages can be used as an antivenom in treating snakebites. Phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, enter the body and target venom components. Once the phages stick to the venom components, they are able to inactivate the venom compounds and clear the compounds from the body. The research into the use of therapeutic phages is being conducted by Dr. Yoon Hwang, Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio research scientist.

NAMRU-SA researchers working on laser therapy project to improve treatment of drug-resistant wound infections
June 19, 2017 — An innovative project being conducted at the Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston could lead to the development of laser therapy technology to improve the treatment of antibiotic resistant wound infections in the bodies of service members injured in combat... MORE

Dr. Nancy Millenbaugh, research chemist and principal investigator for the Craniofacial Health and Restorative Medicine Directorate at Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, points to a laser beam that is used in testing the effectiveness of nanoparticle targeted laser therapy in improving the treatment of multi-drug resistant wound infections, especially for servicemembers with maxillofacial injuries from combat. Researchers are hoping to develop a nanoparticle laser therapy that can breakdown biofilms, which contain a protective coating produced by bacteria that make infections in the wound resistant to antibiotic treatment.

Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio researchers developing field portable sterilizer
March 1, 2017 — Researchers at the Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, or NAMRU-SA, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston are developing a portable sterilizer that can be used in military field operations and operate by battery when power is not available... MORE

Roy Dory (right), biomedical engineer and head of NAMRU-SA’s Biomedical Systems Engineering and Evaluation Department is also the principal investigator for the field-ready portable ozone sterilizer project. Dory and team member Dr. Luis Martinez prepare to test the prototype.