Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD –
Three researchers from Walter Reed didn’t just represent, they led the pack. Their innovative work earned top honors at the 40th Annual Navy-wide Academic Research Competition, recently held by Naval Medical Center San Diego.
The annual event brings together top researchers from across the Department of Defense (DoD) to showcase advances in health care and military medical science. Walter Reed’s winners advanced to the competition after taking top honors in the 17th Annual National Capital Region Research and Inquiry Competitions in May.
U.S. Air Force Maj. (Dr.) Melissa Meister, U.S. Army Maj. (Dr.) Charles Kang and Dr. Pouya Javadian placed first in various categories of the Navy-wide research competition.
“These achievements highlight the dedication of our researchers to advancing medical science and contributing to the Navy's mission of ensuring the health and readiness of our Sailors and Marines," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Michael Orestes, director for Education, Training and Research at Walter Reed. "Walter Reed's exceptional performance exemplifies our institution's leadership in military medical research.”
Meister, a recent graduate of Walter Reed’s neurosurgery residency program, placed first in the clinical research trainee category for her project focused on hospitalization characteristics of battlefield-related cranial to non-cranial injuries.
“Traumatic brain injuries of all severities are extremely prevalent in the military,” Meister said. “We hope to continue our research to one day develop an algorithm that can be used to quickly and accurately detect members who have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury in less than 10 seconds in a deployed setting,” she added.
Another Walter Reed winner, Kang, focused his research on pediatric care.
A pediatric gastroenterologist, Kang earned first place in the clinical research staff category for his work focused eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic food-triggered inflammatory condition.
“Can kids self-identify their eosinophilic esophagitis food triggers? The jury is still out in this ongoing pilot study,” Kang stated. The most common triggers for EoE include dairy, soy, wheat, egg, nuts and seafood, he explained. The study explores if sequentially exposing greater concentrations of potential food triggers to children with EoE will decrease the number of endoscopies and improve quality of life as the appropriate elimination diet is identified earlier, he explained.
Also earning first place in the competition in the basic science staff category, Javadian’s work concerned a comparative serum proteomic analysis of uterine leiomyosarcoma and begin uterine leiomyoma.
Leiomyosarcoma is a rare but deadly and aggressive uterine tumor, and Javadian’s winning research work focused on seeking to improve preoperative identification for bettering outcomes for women with this condition.
In addition to the three winners, U.S. Army Capt. (Dr.) Akshat Parekh, an orthopaedic surgeon, placed second in the basic science trainee category. Parekh’s work, using Hounsfield units as a screening tool for osteoporotic femoral neck fractures, looks to enhance efforts at better identifying patients at risk of bone fragility and fractures.
From battlefield injuries to pediatric care and cancer detection, Walter Reed’s research teams are helping to shape the future of military medicine and discoveries that ripple beyond the battlefield, and clinic and walls of Walter Reed.