Force Health Protection, Advanced Diagnostics/Therapeutics Research & Development (Budgeted) (Air Force)
Abstract
This project area seeks to deliver improved capabilities across the full spectrum of operations in the areas of Directed Energy and Occupational and Environmental Health. Research in the Directed Energy sub-project area seeks to develop technologies to "detect to warn" and "detect to protect" AF operators such that they can take appropriate actions to prevent or minimize exposure leading to adverse health effects. Research in the Occupational and Environmental Health sub-project area involves the assessment and implementation of innovative new technologies that enable effective surveillance, detection, identification, and mitigation of hazardous chemical, biological, and physical hazards that present a health risk to our forces and threaten to degrade and disrupt the missions they execute. Air Force FHP efforts focus on health protection across the spectrum of AF air and ground operations. These include hazards presented to high performance and high flyer aircraft crews facing extreme environments within their flight envelopes that are potentially more sensitive to physiologic and cognitive stressors and rely on aircraft systems to provide life support for protection. Because Air Force installations are typically very strategically important in combat execution, they are more often tied to performing ops at fixed locations; therefore, they drive the need to detect and identify the USAF- and environment-specific risks posed by chemical, biological, directed energy, and other radiological and physical hazards immediately and on-site so that operations can be resumed as quickly as possible. This requires enhanced monitoring capability, such as man-portable gold-standard hazard detection. Research is needed to improve these capabilities and to account for emerging threats. The mission needs driving the ability to detect also drives the need to rapidly reduce or mitigate threats once discovered. State of the art detection and monitoring equipment, therefore, is also an important FHP research need. AFMS Innovation initiatives include demonstration of projects to drive, streamline, and empower continuous process improvements and innovations, leading practices, disruptive and transformative innovation into enterprise-wide efforts to enhance an agile culture of innovative through use of an innovations exchange web portal platform. Analyze genomics survey data to identify gaps in genomic education, and development of educational programs to correct these gaps. Utilize patient modeling algorithms to identify pharmacogenomics interventions that can improve patient health and reduce healthcare costs across the AFMS. Provide further analysis in educational interventions for the proper use of genetic testing within the AFMS. Research for pharmacogenomics for anti-depressants and pain medication within the AFMS. Analysis of methodologies and challenges associated with the establishment of an AFMS genome data repository for future implementation of genomic medicine.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2017
- Source ID
- d5a3df13ad930f9c81c2b3921c604171