Capt. Rita Simmons, commanding officer of the Naval Health Research Center, addressed current challenges and future opportunities for military medical research processes during a presentation to the Defense Health Board (DHB), Feb. 10.

The DHB held its quarterly meeting in San Diego to review current processes for initiation, funding, oversight, and conduct of Defense Health Program medical research in the Department of Defense and to explore opportunities for improvement.

During Simmons' presentation, she leveraged her extensive experience as a Navy Medicine researcher to highlight specific opportunities for improving processes. These included: creating an easily accessible virtual tool to increase visibility of funding and research opportunities to all military medical research labs, encouraging intramural collaboration throughout the DoD, facilitating opportunities for clinicians and researchers to collaborate, and encouraging professional development by establishing a research career-track for military officers and facilitating mentoring for junior researchers.

"I was honored to have the opportunity to provide my perspective about medical research processes to the distinguished board," said Simmons. "As someone who has been conducting medical research for 20 years, I understand the importance of examining our current methods and investigating whether or not there are novel and more cost-effective ways of accomplishing our research mission. Innovation and science go hand in hand."

According to Simmons, with the Defense Health Agency (DHA) having achieved full operating capability, integrating the medical research practices and processes of the different military services into a cohesive, DoD-wide program is an important next step requiring an in-depth understanding of the current state of the science for each service.

"As the DHA evolves, aligning how the Navy, Army, and Air Force initiates and conducts research across the military medicine enterprise is vital," said Simmons. "Whether we are optimizing warfighter performance, improving patient care, or developing and testing products to improve health and readiness, being in sync will streamline processes and elevate best practices. Together, we can achieve high levels of innovation, collaboration, and excellence."

The DHB is a Federal advisory committee that provides independent advice and recommendations on matters pertaining to health care policy, program management and operations within the Department of Defense (DoD), including health research, to the secretary of defense.

As the DoD's premier deployment health research center, NHRC's cutting-edge research and development is used to optimize the operational health and readiness of the nation's armed forces. In proximity to more than 95,000 active-duty service members, world-class universities, and industry partners, NHRC sets the standard in joint ventures, innovation, and translational research.

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