University of Nebraska Medical Center Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, and John Lowe, PhD, director of the Global Center for Health Security at UNMC, teamed Friday to detail the many partnerships between the U.S. armed services and UNMC.
The information was shared with the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, which met at UNMC.
“Among our collaborations, UNMC serves as a clinical readiness hub for the U.S. Air Force, embedding trauma surgeons, training military clinicians and sustaining medical skills in Nebraska and abroad,” Dr. Davies said. “UNMC partners with the Department of Defense to train military physicians, physician assistants and health care leaders through programs that span Nebraska communities and national service.”
Dr. Lowe, who also serves as assistant vice chancellor for health security training and education and the Anne M. Hubbard Chair of the UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, spoke to the regents about C-STARS Omaha and its mission – with UNMC and Nebraska Medicine – to advance the readiness skills and competency of U.S. Air Force medical personnel so they can provide safe and effective care for patients who have contracted or may have been exposed to highly hazardous infectious diseases.
Other collaborations discussed with the regents included:
- Department of Defense academic partnerships – such as the Interservice Physician Assistant Program – that have resulted in more than 3,100 service members trained by UNMC.
- UNMC’s 36 DoD research projects, include developing protective drugs for soldiers facing biological, chemical or radiological threats, as well as advancing cancer therapies and treatments for combat injuries.
- UNMC’s partnership with the Veterans Affairs, with 62 faculty providing care at the Omaha VA, as well as 21 residency programs and 112 research projects.
- The Infectious Disease Air Transport (IDAT) program, in which med center subject matter experts work with C-STARS to create training plans, hold exercises and do research on dealing with high-consequence infectious diseases in the field.
- Plans for a more advanced IDAT facility, purpose-built to enhance the nation’s capability and capacity for transport of patients affected by HCID to higher levels of care.
- The UNMC College of Dentistry’s veteran outreach efforts, including holding its own clinics and participating with local and national efforts.
“We are proud of our efforts on behalf of our nation and our veterans,” Dr. Davies said. “We are grateful to partner with the C-STARS team; and we continue to find ways to provide more impactful health care and safety measures for Nebraska, our nation and the world.”
Dr. Lowe said he was proud of the partnership’s impact on advancing global health security and military readiness.
“Collaborating with the U.S. Air Force team has allowed us to push the boundaries of innovation, training and preparedness,” he said.