“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” – Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

I began my fascination with the scientific method and the process of research early in college. Decades later (more than I like to admit) as I look back, I am awed at the accelerating pace of medical discovery and dismayed at the concurrent explosion in the bureaucracy of research conduct known as the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Most of my medical research colleagues consider ‘IRB’ a four-letter word, and we all have personal horror stories of navigating procedural insanity imposed by IRBs, sometimes euphemistically referred to as the ‘office of preventative research,” in the name of human subject protection.

WASHINGTON, DC—One of the biggest challenges for Lt. Cdr Heather Huentelman, USPHS, Pharm D, is not providing treatment to HIV patients but making sure the patients actually adhere to the sometimes complex drug regimen.

WASHINGTON, DC—Returning servicemembers are among the some 40 million Americans who suffer from chronic long term sleep disorders, and, for reasons ranging from disrupted sleep during deployment, battlefield stress or even hyper vigilance, their sleep problems can be especially challenging to treat. That is even more the case when post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, pain and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are involved.

WASHINGTON, DC—Military health care beneficiaries currently can access their own health data by choosing the web-based “Blue Button” feature on TRICARE Online (TOL). In an upgrade that will be available before the end of the year, they also will be able to use the site for secure, two-way communication with providers.

WASHINGTON, DC—Even though the overall 2012 budget request for VA includes $50.9 billion for medical care— a net increase of $240 million over the 2012 advance appropriations request of $50.6 billion in the 2011 budget—union representatives are worried that cost-cutting measures may be putting too much strain on VA’s already stretched-thin staff.

WASHINGTON, DC—With a decline in the number of central line associate bloodstream infections in intensive care units, the focus is turning to an area where such infections are burgeoning – kidney dialysis clinics.

WASHINGTON, DC—This time last year, a group of VA-funded researchers at MIT announced that they had developed a robot-assisted therapy for stroke patients that greatly improved patient outcome without significantly raising costs. In chronic stroke survivors, robot-assisted therapy led to modest improvements in upper-body motor functioning and in quality of life.