UNMC has formally established the Office for the Advancement of Military Medicine (OMM), a new institutional office that will facilitate UNMC’s military medicine, biodefense and civilian-military health integration programming and work to develop new initiatives in this space.
The new office will serve as a central hub for facilitating health engagement with the U.S. Department of War and its relevant federal health security partners, advancing operational response, research and education at the intersection of military and civilian medicine and ensuring UNMC’s clinical and research capabilities are fully accessible to those who serve the nation.
Col. Lee Williames (USAF, Ret.), MD, has been named inaugural director of the Office for the Advancement of Military Medicine. Dr. Williames most recently served as command surgeon at U.S. Strategic Command, where he focused on force health protection, disease and illness prevention, human factors and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear response.
Dr. Williames, trained as a developmental pediatrician, will join the faculty at the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute to support MMI’s work in developmental medicine for service members’ families.
“UNMC is renowned for its culture of innovation and reputation for delivering under pressure,” Dr. Williames said. “I am thrilled to join the team to support ongoing projects and to accelerate new ones. We have an obligation to provide service members the best medicine has to offer, in peacetime and conflict.”
He added, “Combining my 30 years of military medical experience with UNMC’s world-class expertise, we will deliver cutting-edge capabilities to solve the military’s most complex force health protection and health service support problems. I believe this can only be accomplished through close collaboration with the Department of War in a ‘one team, one fight’ mindset. I am excited to do this with UNMC – an institution that shares this vision completely.”
Lauren Sauer, PhD, associate professor in the UNMC College of Public Health and associate director of research at the Global Center for Health Security, will serve as deputy director. Dr. Sauer brings more than two decades of experience in health security, disaster response and high-consequence infectious disease research, including deployments with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, the U.S. Department of War and the American Red Cross.
The Office for the Advancement of Military Medicine will work in close partnership with: the Global Center for Health Security, directed by John Lowe, PhD; C-STARS Omaha, the U.S. Air Force’s Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills, directed by Col. Elizabeth Schnaubelt, MD; and with the forthcoming Infectious Disease Air Transport training facility. The first-of-its-kind, $17.4 million facility approved by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents will train military medical teams in the aeromedical evacuation of highly infectious patients when it opens in fall 2027.
Chris Kratochvil, MD, vice chancellor of external relations for UNMC, said Drs. Williames and Sauer represent an extraordinary combination of operational experience and research excellence that “will make OMM a model for what civilian-military partnership in medicine can look like.”
Said UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, “UNMC is pleased to further strengthen our already strong partnership with the military through this centralized hub. The OMM highlights our commitment to ensuring the safety and security of each individual who serves our country, and our citizens, and I am excited to work with Dr. Williames and Dr. Sauer as we jointly build a strong team to accomplish our goals.”