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Research and Innovation | MHSRS 2019
KISSIMMEE, Fla. —The Military Health System Research Symposium opened on Monday morning, August 19th, at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center. More than 3,000 attendees gathered for the annual event, the Department of Defense’s premier scientific meeting, convening military medical researchers and providers, academia, international partners, and industry to exchange cutting-edge findings in military medicine. This year’s MHSRS theme is Research for Readiness, focusing on four priority areas: warfighter medical readiness, expeditionary medicine, warfighter performance, and return to duty.
Navy Rear Adm. Mary C. Riggs, deputy assistant director, research and development at the Defense Health Agency welcomed everyone, highlighting the importance of research and development to pave the way for successful partnerships for innovation. “Since 2012, MHSRS has been a powerful enabler to bring attendees together for discussion and collaboration for real solutions.” Riggs concluded by introducing a new video featuring recent research accomplishments across the military medical enterprise.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Thomas McCaffery, offered his welcome and focused his remarks on the pivotal transformation the military health system in undergoing, what these changes mean for warfighters and patients, and the critical role of military medical research to advance the MHS’s integrated system of readiness and health.
McCaffery underscored the significance of the transformation of the MHS, a unique, multi-billion-dollar a year enterprise with one of the largest health plans in the nation. He highlighted significant research and development activities that will impact transformation including leveraging national and international partnerships, a key part of the National Defense Strategy; supporting integrated and connected care through MHS GENESIS; collaborating with and among entities within the MHS; and acknowledging an increasingly complex global security environment.
McCaffery concluded, “The MHS is at a pivotal time: a time to challenge ourselves to go beyond the status quo, and identify new ways of doing business to integrate health care services, increase efficiencies, and deliver the highest quality services possible to our patients. I’m looking forward to hearing about what cutting-edge developments are on the horizon, and recognizing more great work from our research professionals.”