BELVOIR
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www.belvoireagleonline.com
January 30, 2020
DTRA contributes to Ebola vaccine
like DTRA and Merck; international partners in North America, Europe and Africa; and non-governmental and international organizations. The World Health Organization describes EVD as a rare, but severe, hemorrhagic fever. EVD has killed thousands over the course of outbreaks, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, since it first appeared in the 1970s. DTRA, a Defense Photo by Senior Airman Megan Munoz Department combat support Staff Sgt. Lee Nembhard, an aeromedical evacuation technician assigned to the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., straps agency, began its work a simulated Ebola patient to a litter during a training exercise at Joint Base on the vaccine in 2014 Charleston, S.C. during an especially deadly outbreak in West Africa. the announcement of the U.S. By Darnell Gardner The outbreak made clear the Food and Drug Administration’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency danger EVD posed to U.S. national approval of a vaccine, last month. security interests abroad, and to he team of researchers The vaccine’s approval the U.S. domestic population in and program managers represents the culmination of the event of a pandemic. DTRA at the Defense Threat nearly two decades of efforts coordinated a series of investment Reduction Agency that has by a host of teams from across efforts and partnerships to deliver worked to counter the threat of the public and private sectors, a baseline platform for a viable the Ebola Virus Disease welcomed
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vaccine to mitigate the spread of the deadly disease. “We exercised our ability to develop partnerships for a relevant need, which was critical in transitioning medical countermeasures to our advanced developers at the speed of relevancy,” said Army Maj. Jeffrey Froude, DTRA’s program manager for the EVD Vaccine. After several years of coordinated research and development efforts by a coalition of partners, the promising vaccine candidate transitioned to next-level partners Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and Merck for more advanced human clinical trials and product manufacturing of the vaccine. “This vaccine’s rapid progress is a testament to the power of partnerships among government agencies and with the private sector,” said Rick Bright, BARDA director.
Belvoir doctor earns award for medical, academic leadership By Marlon Martin Army Medical Command he Army Surgeon General selected Col. Mohammad Naeem to receive the Maj. Gen. Lewis Aspey Mologne Award, which recognizes an Army physician who exhibits a balance between military medicine and academic leadership on a national level. Naeem serves as the diagnostic radiologist and officer-in-charge of Belvoir Hospital’s Radiology Strategic Operations and Emergency Response Team. Maj. Gen. Telita Crosland, deputy surgeon general, Office of the Surgeon General, presented the award to Naeem among a
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select group of Army physicians who were also honored for their commitment to excellence in support of Army Medicine. This prestigious award is named after one of the first West Point graduates allowed to attend medical school, who served for 34 years. Earning this distinction is quite significant to Naeem, who claimed this distinction has historically been awarded to trauma surgeons, critical care doctors, emergency physicians and pediatric surgeons, to name a few. According to Naeem, the efforts of these medical and surgical specialties are more visible than radiology A4
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and pathology surgeons, who often operate in extremely arduous conditions. Most people may not know or fully understand the vital role played by these skilled physicians who have little or no patient contact. “To the best of my knowledge, I am the first radiologist to have received this highest military academic honor,” Naeem said. “I sincerely hope that seeing the possibility of a radiologist winning this most prestigious award will motivate and encourage physicians in these support roles and specialties that they, too, can win these honors, as long as they are steadfast and zealous in their pursuit.” A7
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Photo by Marlon Martin
Maj. Gen. Telita Crosland, deputy surgeon general, Office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General, presented the 2019 Maj. Gen. Lewis Aspey Mologne Award for Military Academic Excellence to Col. (Dr.) Mohammad Naeem, the diagnostic radiologist and OIC of Belvoir Hospital’s Radiology Strategic Operations and Emergency Response Team. B1
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