Analysis and Adaptation of Human Resilience
Abstract
The Analysis and Adaptation of Human Resilience program explored new methods to maintain and optimize warfighter health in response to environmental insults such as new and emerging infectious diseases. Research efforts in this area applied recent advances in comparative biology, genetic sequencing, omics technologies, and bioinformatics to develop new tools for modulating health to ensure warfighter readiness. One approach to achieve the program's goal was to identify the fundamental mechanisms that enable certain species to be tolerant to various environmental insults. Genomic and physiological analyses of a wide array of resilient animal species were combined with sophisticated algorithms to identify important patterns of survival. By analyzing patterns in the underlying variability of host responses for resilient animals, a survival blueprint is being developed to restore and maintain warfighter homeostasis in response to infection. This approach was orthogonal to traditional infectious disease research, which primarily relies on reducing the pathogen load through drug intervention. Research efforts within this program may enable discovery of novel methods to optimize human health against infectious diseases caused by multi-drug resistant pathogens.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2021
- Source ID
- 1661103c6b4c295d8c8a8c7d4d0e2a9c