A group of about 30 civilian health professionals and students toured Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) laboratories April 16 taking part in the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) sponsored Mini Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (MJCOC).

This year’s program is designed to expose attendees to Military Health System (MHS) leaders, and military medical operations in the National Capital Region.

Capt. Adam Armstrong, NMRC’s Commander, was joined by Col.  Deydre Teyhen, commander, Walter Reed Army Institute Research (WRAIR), to give the guests an overview of NMRC and the Navy Medicine Research and Development Enterprise, and how it supports warfighter readiness.

“NMRC and its laboratories play an important part protecting the health and ensuring the readiness of our global force,” Armstrong said. “We deliver high-value, high-impact research products and knowledge to support and protect our deployed warfighters. Our researchers are focused on the readiness and well-being of future forces.”

Afterwards the group broke into four smaller teams according to military branch, and cycled through each station.

The tour included visits to Navy/Army Insectary which controlled human malaria infection model; Army Sleep Research Center; Army Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network; Navy Infectious Disease Diagnostics Laboratory and Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department Vaccine Research.

“Visits by SECDEF’s sponsored MJCOC are important. They build awareness of and an affinity for our Military Health System,” Armstrong said. 

NMRC’s eight laboratories are engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies at sites in austere and remote areas of the world to operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation and operational mission support, and epidemiology and behavioral sciences.

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy facebook or twitter.

For more news from Naval Medical Research Center, visit www.navy.mil/.