November 24, 2025
HJF gathered over 200 of its scientistsfor its inaugural HJF Research Day on Nov. 19. The event began with presentations on supporting clinical trials, accelerating innovation development, and exploring funding opportunities. Research pParticipants then engaged in five expert panels covering infectious diseases, cancer, trauma & rehabilitation, brain health, and medical countermeasures. The enriching day concluded with over 30 poster presentations and a dynamic networking session.
“We were thrilled to host this inaugural research day, offering our HJF research scientists an opportunity to share, connect, and spark further collaboration,” said Vice President of Enterprise Optimization Arnaud Belard, the event’s lead organizer. “With more than 400 researchers and scientists at HJF, as you can imagine, we couldn’t cover everything in this first HJF Research Day,” Dr. Joseph Caravalho, HJF President and CEO, said, “but we took a look at the different domains and chose several to be here today representing some of the topic areas of brain health, cancer, infectious diseases, medical countermeasures, and trauma and rehabilitation as the most topical for the warfighter in this current environment.”
Researchers from several HJF-supported programs at the Uniformed Services University, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and other key commands used the day to present their research, share tips and tricks, and more generally learn how they could help one another navigate the challenges of militarmedical research.
Research Day’s threefold purpose included:
- Connecting HJF scientists with supporting Home Office functions (funding capture, product & device development, and innovation management)
- Showcasing HJF research’s breadth and depth, primarily across DHA-aligned domains
- Facilitating networking and collaboration among HJF scientists
Dr. Caravalho concluded the oral presentations with closing remarks, which were followed by a poster session in the San Antonio rooms and networking in the concourse. “HJF is honored to collaborate with the military, and we recognize the privilege of contributing to work that not only supports our service members but also creates meaningful impact for the broader community.”