September 12, 2022
As the COVID-19 pandemic began, the military medical ecosystem pivoted to find ways to not only quickly diagnose, treat, and prevent the disease but also to adjust to most effectively support service members, veterans and the general public. A new anthology, compiled by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), documents just a few of many success stories from various federal agencies, demonstrating the breadth of impact these unsung heroes had.
The anthology showcases organizations that called on partners, created new processes and developed solutions for both the military and the general public. These stories detail how the military, federal agencies, and pharmaceutical and medical device companies partnered to combat the pandemic. In addition, the stories also describe lessons learned and how those important accomplishments and discoveries set the stage to enable effective response to future pandemics and public health emergencies.
“In HJF’s mission to advance military medicine, our goal in highlighting successes from the past 30 months was to share stories that have been out of the public view. The U.S. military medical system of services, agencies and partners demonstrated its ability to adjust, innovate and learn in the midst of the public health crisis,” said HJF President and CEO Joseph Caravalho. “Military medicine excels at this type of work, but few people are aware of the results of these efforts by military medical personnel. I hope many people read these stories and appreciate a sometimes hidden facet of the military—the medical and research corps, who commit their time, talent and energy to these fights.”
The HJF military medicine impact anthology is composed of stories from the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), Walter Reed Army Research Institute (WRAIR) and others. See the full anthology at www.hjf.org/milmedimpact/pandemicresponse.