This year's annual Military Health System Research Symposium award for outstanding individual research accomplishment was presented to a Navy lieutenant.

Lt. Francis Haran, a research psychologist at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL), Groton, Connecticut, was awarded the 2016 Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) Individual Award for Outstanding Research Accomplishment in the research category of traumatic brain injury and neurotrauma, Aug. 16.

"I was very surprised and honored to receive this award," said Haran. "In military research, you get to see your work have an impact on the warfighter and that, more than anything else, is very rewarding."

The award, which is given annually during MHSRS, was based on Haran's research accomplishments during the past year that directly impacted the clinical evaluation, diagnosis, and tracking of traumatic brain injury in service members; specifically, his research on assessing service members for head trauma.

Haran conducted a series of different studies focused on examining whether the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM4) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Battery or normative data, an average score from a reference population for establishing a baseline measure, would be better for testing service members for cognitive deficits associated with TBI.

Haran's research found that neither assessment is better than the other, however normative data does have more advantages.

"During deployment, you don't have access to pre-deployment assessments," said Haran. "Additionally, normative data is more cost-effective as service members don't have to take time out of their pre-deployment work-ups to do the pre-assessment for the ANAM4."

Based on Haran's research, the Defense Health Board suggested the Department of Defense conduct prospective research on the use of neurocognitive assessment tools for managing mild traumatic brain injury and return-to-duty decision-making.

Currently, Haran is working on a psychological health model for submariners to evaluate how occupational stress affects their psychological health and neurological performance. Additional studies led by Haran at NSMRL have contributed to research success in decompression sickness, oxygen toxicity, and diving epidemiology.

"I worked at NASA doing my Ph.D. work where I met an astronaut who was a former Navy pilot," said Haran. "He asked me 'what are you going to do with your life?' He later sent information to me on Navy scientist programs. We were in the middle of the wars, and I wanted to give back."

Haran is a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, and has been in the Navy for seven years.

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