The Official USU Newsletter

Volume 5, Issue 14 n October 25, 2010

www.usuhs.mil
On the cover

Marine Capt. Matthew Anderson, Air 

Force Master Sgt. Steven Huntington, 

USU’s CFC Loaned Executive Dr. Tre Steger, 

and USU CFC Campaign Manager Army 

Capt. Justin Beam kicked off USU’s CFC 

campaign. (See story on page 4)

Photo by HM1 Michael Oliver

Photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine

Sharon Willis

Deputy Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

Ken Frager

Public Affairs Specialist

Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine

Production Editor

MC1 Chad Hallford

Writer

Christine Creenan-Jones

Contributing Writer

Lori Fields

Layout and Design

Production

Editorial content is edited, prepared 

and provided by the USU Office of 

External Affairs unless otherwise 

indicated. The Pulse staff may 

include or exclude articles based 

upon news value, impact on the 

university and space availability.

Submissions

The Pulse will be published 

bi-weekly on Mondays. The 

deadline for submissions is at 4 p.m. 

Tuesday prior to the publication 

date. Submissions can be sent to 

usunewsletter@usuhs.mil or by 

calling 301-295-0895.

AFRRI holds officer 

professional development program

By Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine

2 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Twelve officers from the Armed 

Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) recently participated in 

an officer professional development 

program (OPD). 

The event, which focused on 

helping officers at AFRRI become 

re-invigorated with military tradition 

in an environment of mentorship and 

camaraderie, took place during a visit 

to the Women in Military Service for 

America Memorial. 

While at the memorial, the officers 

watched a documentary film and 

received a guided tour of the facility, 

including the Hall of Honor. The tour 

highlighted the progression of female 

servicemembers from the American 

Revolution to modern day. It also 

highlighted groundbreaking achievements by women servicemembers 

such as Dr. Mary Edwards Walker 

– the only woman recipient of the 

Medal of Honor. 

The officers also took a guided 

tour of Arlington National Cemetery. 

They visited several notable gravesites, 

witnessed the changing of the guard at 

the Tomb of the Unknowns and visited 

Arlington House, the former home and 

estate of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. 

“I wanted to keep the officers in 

OPD intouch with their military 

roots and the heritage of officership,” said Army Col. Mark Melanson, the AFRRI director. “I have been 

on this visit before, and I know it is 

a really good combination of history 

and heritage for these officers. Plus, 

Arlington is well known, but a visit 

to the Women’s Memorial is a unique 

opportunity that many of these 

officers haven’t been a part of yet.” 

Colonel Melanson has been 

conducting OPD for more than 10 

years and emphasized the importance 

of history and heritage to the officers 

attending the event. This is especially 

notable as AFRRI is celebrating its own 

50th anniversary. 

The officers attending the event took 

this lesson in development to heart. 

“I would say this event was definitely 

a success,” said Army Capt. John 

Madrid. “This session has gone really 

well and it has been great to be able 

to learn and honor our female service 

members at the same time.” 

Army Lt. Col. Lindsay-DoDoo watches the eternal flame at the President Kennedy Memorial 

gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery. Lt. Col. Lindsay-DoDoo was one of 12 officers from 

the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute who participated in officer professional 

development at the cemetery.
Courtesy Photo

October 25, 2010 3

IDCRP undergoes leadership change

Courtesy of IDCRP

Army Colonel (Dr.) Mark Kortepeter recently assumed the role of 

Infectious Disease Clinical Research 

Program (IDCRP) Director, replacing former Director Captain (Dr.) 

Gregory Martin in the role. Kortepeter previously served as IDCRP 

Deputy Director and Scientific 

Review Board (SRB) Chairman.

Dr. Gerald Quinnan, Chief of the 

Department of Preventive Medicine 

and Biometrics (PMB) recently 

announced the change following 

Martin’s move to the National Naval 

Medical Center. 

The IDCRP, part of the Department of PMB, was established under 

a cooperative agreement between 

USU and the National Institute of 

Allergy and Infectious Diseases 

(NIAID) to conduct infectious 

disease research that has relevance to 

the DoD and the NIAID. 

The IDCRP is specifically poised 

to conduct multi-center research. The 

IDCRP network originally grew out of 

the U.S. Military HIV Natural History 

Study network, and HIV continues to 

be one of the research focuses. 

During his tenure, Martin built 

the program into a tri-service clinical research network that extended 

to 10 treatment facilities across the 

globe, from Landstuhl Regional 

Medical Center, Germany, to Tripler 

Army Medical Center, Hawaii. This 

was facilitated by the establishment 

of a network SRB and an Infectious 

Disease Institutional Review Board 

(IRB) housed at USU that allows for 

a single scientific protocol review 

and a single human use review. This 

network IRB is unique within the 

DoD and a model for other potential 

multi-site programs. 

As a result of this streamlined 

process, the program rolled out 

several major multicenter studies 

of importance to the DoD, such as 

long-term outcomes of war-related 

trauma infections in service members 

from Operations Enduring and Iraqi 

Freedom and overseas travel-related 

infections that can occur in DoD 

travelers. In addition, the network 

was able to respond rapidly during 

the 2009 H1N1 swine variant influenza outbreak to set up a respiratory 

disease multi-site collaboration over 

a period of 4 months from concept to 

protocol initiation. 

Another focus has been on prevention of skin and soft-tissue infections 

related to Staphylococcus aureus. 

The IDCRP has had an extraordinary contribution to science over this 

period, due to the effectiveness of the 

network that Martin built. Thus far in 

2010, the network has published 27 

articles in some of the world’s leading 

scientific and medical journals.

Kortepeter is board certified in 

infectious diseases and preventive medicine. He has a strong 

background in biodefense research, 

having recently served as the Deputy 

Commander of the U.S. Army 

Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort 

Detrick, MD. He also has a research 

interest in viral hemorrhagic fevers 

and filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg), 

in particular. Martin, who is the 

Consultant to the Navy Surgeon 

General for Infectious Diseases, 

transferred to the infectious disease 

service at NNMC. He will still 

maintain ties with the IDCRP as the 

Navy representative to the IDCRP’s 

Steering Committee. 

Army Col. (Dr.) Mark Kortepeter, right, recently took over leadership of the director of the 

Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program from Navy Capt. (Dr.) Gregory Martin, left, the 

previous IDCRP director. Captain Martin was the previous director for the IDCRP. The colonel 

has served as the IDCRP’s deputy director and the Scientific Review Board chairman since 

last year. The IDCRP is part of the Department of Preventative Medicine and Biometrics. The 

department was established under a cooperative agreement between USU and the National 

Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Its mission is to conduct infectious disease 

research relevant to the DoD and NIAID.
4 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Air Force uniform 

phaseout dates 

draw near

By Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine

CFC begins!

by MC1 Chad Hallford

USU “fired off ” its 2010 Combined 

Federal Campaign with a ceremony 

and on-campus barbecue, Oct. 5.

The mission of the CFC is to promote 

and support philanthropy through a 

program that is employee-focused, 

cost-efficient and effectively provides 

all federal employees the opportunity to 

improve the quality of life for others.

The ceremony and barbecue began 

with opening comments by Dr. Charles 

Rice, who launched USU’s 2010 

campaign to raise more than $165,000. 

USU’s CFC loaned executive, Dr. TreSina 

Steger, who is with the Department 

of Defense Washington Headquarters 

Services, was also on hand to kick off the 

campaign. The ceremony provided CFC 

charity representatives a chance to send 

their respective messages to attendees. 

“People like to have a face behind 

the organizations they give to...find 

out a story from someone who was 

affected by each organization, how 

lives improved from the generosity of those who have contributed to 

various organizations,” said Air Force 

Master Sgt. Stephen Huntington, CFC 

noncommissioned officer in-charge.

More than 14 local, national or 

international CFC organizations, 

representing military issues, health 

concerns, world relief efforts and 

humanitarian causes, offered information as well as first-hand accounts 

of how the charities have directly 

helped people.

“Hopefully, those who attended 

learned about the organizations to 

which they may potentially donate 

and were overcome with the spirit of 

giving,” said Huntington.

The CFC is the world’s largest and 

most successful annual workplace 

charity campaign. It helps raise 

millions of dollars each year, both 

nationally and internationally, to 

support eligible non-profit organizations that provide health and human 

service benefits throughout the world.

“I had never been to a CFC event. 

I was surprised for a cold, windy 

day that so many dedicated charities 

attended,” said Marine Capt. Matthew 

Anderson, CFC co-manager.

The CFC campaign runs through 

December. For more information about 

donating to an individual organization, 

contact CFC campaign manager, Army 

Capt. Justin Beam, co-manager Marine 

Capt. Matthew Anderson, or your 

department’s key worker. 

The Air Force Uniform Office 

recently updated the Air Force official 

wear of certain uniformed items. 

As of Oct. 1, the following 

uniform item will be phased out.

100 percent wool pullover sweater 

is replaced with the looser fitting, 

smooth fabric pullover sweater 

2EXXX, 3AXXX and 3CXXX 

legacy badges 

Black fleece

Green fleece used as outer garment without name, service 

designator and rank 

Additionally, the optional green 

fleece without nametapes and rank 

may only be worn as a liner to the 

All-Purpose Environmental Clothing System. As an outer garment, 

the green fleece must have the 

Airman’s name, Air Force tape and 

rank attached. 

With many phaseout and mandatory wear dates approaching, the Air 

Force uniform will also see additional 

changes over the next year. 

Here are a few dates to remember for.

As of the following dates, wear of 

the listed uniform items will be phased 

out as part of these policy changes: 

Beginning Dec. 31: 

Gray and dark blue scarves, 

gloves, mittens and earmuffs 

Beginning Oct. 1, 2011: 

33S legacy badges 

Beginning Nov. 1, 2011: 

Battle Dress Uniform 

Desert Camouflage Uniform 

Tan boots (excluding Airmen deployed to the area of responsibility) 

Wear of the Airman Battle 

Uniform and ABU items will be 

mandatory as of Nov. 1, 2011. 

For more information on uniform 

items, visit the Air Force uniform 

Web site at http://www.afpc.

randolph.af.mil/dress/index.asp.

USU President Dr. Charles L. Rice joined the University masses at the Combined Federal 

Campaign kick-off barbecue. The event was the CFC’s official opening activity and featured 

more than a dozen organizations with information, novelties and first-hand accounts 

of the CFC’s impact across the Nation and locally.

Photo by HM1 Michael Oliver
October 25, 2010 5

USU, HJF host warrior care symposium

by Christine Creenan-Jones

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for 

the Advancement of Military Medicine 

and USU brought together a broad 

spectrum of participants Sept. 23 for 

their annual symposium. 

The Military Medicine Symposium: 

Advancing Public-Private Partnerships, is designed to foster partnerships 

between military and civilian collaborations to advance military medicine. 

Speakers at the event, held at the 

Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, 

D.C., highlighted the latest in warrior 

care and military-focused research. 

They also discussed some of the 

challenges our servicemembers face on 

battlefields and at home. 

Army Col. David Sutherland, special 

assistant to the chairman of the Joint 

Chiefs of Staff for warrior and family 

support, gave the symposium’s opening 

keynote address. Nancy Berglass, director of the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment 

Impact Fund, presented the afternoon 

keynote address, which emphasized 

the importance of new and promising 

solutions to issues of warrior care involving collaborations among the Department of Defense and civilian partners. 

“If our warriors are not well, neither 

are we,” said Berglass. “Now is the time 

for us to step up.” 

Robert Ursano, M.D., professor of 

Psychiatry and Neuroscience at USU, 

repeated this sentiment when leading 

a discussion on suicide – one of the 

military’s gravest and most concerning 

issues today. 

“Suicide is everyone’s problem,” he said. 

Despite the military’s best efforts, there is 

no downward turn in this alarming trend. 

Other service-related injuries 

and community programs were also 

discussed at the symposium.

Regina Armstrong, Ph.D., director of the Center for Neuroscience and 

Regenerative Medicine at USU, spoke 

about the use of regenerative medicine 

to treat Traumatic Brain Injury and 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Cutting-edge therapies, such as those 

Armstrong is exploring, could represent a significant breakthrough for 

thousands of wounded warriors. 

A third panel of symposium experts 

identified the current needs and gaps 

within the military medical systems. 

Fostering opportunities for collaborated and expanded public-private 

partnerships, the symposium enhanced 

the resources availability to diagnose, 

treat and heal the complex injuries 

harming American fighting forces. 

“It is essential we provide Soldiers 

with the best protection on battlefields 

and the best care when they get home,” 

said Congressman Chris Van Hollen 

(D-MD) during opening remarks. “That 

is what this symposium is all about.”

28th USU International Surgery Day

Students and faculty heard from a collection of international surgical leaders recently when they visited the USU campus for the 28th 

International Surgery Day. Highlighting the day’s activities was the 13th Charles G. Rob Distinguished Surgical lecturer, Professor Ian Civil. 

Civil is the President of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons. Other international lecturers included Dr. Christian Gouillat from Lyon, 

France, Dr. Sherif Sultan from Galway, Ireland and Gerhard Hoffman from Solingen, Germany. 

Photo by Thomas Balfour
6 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Navy Captain (Dr.) Gerald ‘Dodd’ 

Denton, associate professor of 

Medicine and Internal Medicine 

Clerkship Director, is the recipient of 

the 2010 CDIM Charles H. Griffith, 

III, MD, Educational Research Award.

Denton, Hemmer receive CDIM honors

by Ken Frager

Recognizing excellence

Assistant Secretary of 

Defense for Reserve 

Affairs Dennis M. 

McCarthy, right center, 

poses for a photo with 

USU President Dr. Charles 

L. Rice, left center, 

and several leaders 

of the Armed Forces 

Radiobiology Research 

Institute following 

his recent visit there. 

Secretary McCarthy is a 

presidential appointee 

who serves as the 

principal staff assistant 

to the Secretary of 

Defense on all matters 

involving the 1.2 million 

members of the Reserve 

Components of the United 

States Armed Forces.

The Clerkship Directors in Internal 

Medicine (CDIM), part of the Alliance 

for Academic Internal Medicine, has 

recognized two USU faculty members 

for their contributions to teaching and 

educational research.

Photo by Ken Frager Photo by Thomas Balfour

Photo by Dave Morse

Capt. (Dr.) Dodd Denton Col. (Dr.) Paul Hemmer

The CDIM Educational 

Research Award is presented 

annually to a CDIM member who 

has contributed greatly to educational research.

Since the award’s inception in 

1998, four members of the USU 

Department of Medicine Educational 

Programs Division have received the 

award. Dr. Louis Pangaro (2000); Dr. 

Paul Hemmer (2001); and Dr. Steven 

Durning (2006).

Air Force Col. (Dr.) Paul Hemmer, 

associate professor of Medicine 

and Vice Chair for Educational 

Programs, is the recipient of the 

2010 CDIM Ruth Marie Fincher 

Service Award for outstanding 

leadership and significant contributions to the CDIM. Dr. Hemmer 

is the second member of the USU 

faculty to receive this award. 

Dr. Pangaro received the award 

in 2005.
October 25, 2010 7

Briefs

DAI training courses available 

In October, the College and University 

Financial System (CUFS) will be replaced 

by the Defense Agency Initiative’s (DAI) 

Oracle Federal Financial System. 

To coincide with the October implementation of the Defense Agency 

Initiative’s (DAI) Oracle Federal Financial System, the following DAI training 

classes will be offered through October. 

To reserve a class date for a DAI 

course, register online at: http://www.

lrc.usuhs.mil/content/usutraining_reg.

php. Additional DAI training class dates 

will be offered as needed.

For more information about DAI 

training, contact Debbie Trunnell at 

295-9869 or Bob Parker at 295-3287.

New carpool guidance

The USU is currently transitioning 

to the new carpool program and any 

groups who wish to use the carpool 

garage at USU will have to apply to 

the NSAB.

An authorized carpool group can 

park in any of the spaces 1 thru 41 in 

the carpool area at this time. Once the 

carpool garage is full all other carpool 

groups will have to seek parking in the 

USU garage. 

Drivers who arrive as the only 

member of their carpool group should 

not park in the assigned carpool area 

prior to 9 a.m. These drivers should 

park in the general USU parking areas. 

To legally park in the USU carpool 

area a vehicle must have an L-1 sticker 

on the rear of your vehicle and a 

carpool rearview mirror hanger. 

The carpool area will be open to all 

“L1” and “W” stickers between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m. 

Drivers should also be aware that 

the base police will be enforcing this 

program. The USU Security office will 

assist in enforcing the program. 

Drivers at AFRRI should be aware 

that they are not included in the USU 

carpool program. 

If you have additional questions you 

may contact the USU Security Department at 295-3033. 

Vaccines available 

The USU Family Health Center is 

now able to vaccinate all uniformed 

active duty, faculty and staff. 

Vaccinations will continue to 

be processed daily except on 

Tuesday afternoons. 

Certain Tricare eligible patients 

are also able to obtain their flu shots 

or mist at 12:45 p.m. These patients 

include: 

Children ages six to 35 months 

Children ages 2 years and up 

Children ages 9 yrs and up who 

are immuno-compromised 

The clinic will begin vaccination 

of all Tricare eligible adults on Oct. 

25 from 12:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily 

except on Tuesday afternoon’s.

Vaccinations for the USU civilian 

population are still being determined. 

For more information, contact 

the clinic. 

Using computer resources 

Security incidents continue to be 

a drain to limited USU Information 

Assurance manpower. The following 

highlight current DoD policy and 

best practices:

Personnel must not install selfcoded or non-licensed software on 

network resources; add, remove, 

configure, or attempt to modify 

USU computer operating systems 

or programs; move audio/visual or 

network cables, computers or attempt 

to connect personal computers to the 

network including MDL and lecture 

hall spaces; connect personal devices 

except for those previously authorized by UIS; download pornographic 

material and store or display offensive 

material, such as racist literature, sexually harassing or obscene language 

or material; store or process classified 

information on any USU system.

Personnel must not permit unauthorized individuals access to a governmentowned or government-operated system 

or program; access online gambling, 

games and social engineering sites.

Common Access Card Renewal

A large number of federal University 

employees will be required to renew 

their Common Access Card (CAC) by 

December 2010.

CAC renewal is extremely 

important to maintain access to DTS 

(Travel) and all DAI (Time keeping/

Procurement) applications.

Appointments at NNMC will fill 

up fast during this time period, and 

Thursdays starting at 7:30 a.m. is the 

only day NNMC will accept walk-ins.

Please note people can renew their 

CAC at any RAPIDS location site. 

Online appointments at convenient 

locations can be made by using the 

following link: http://appointments.

cac.navy.mil/default.aspx. Alternate 

locations can be found at the following 

link: http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/

owa/home.

Contractors must be updated in the 

Contractors Verification System (CVS) 

by the USU Security Department prior 

to issuing or renewing a CAC.

Professional activities

The Department of Defense and USU 

policy requires that all employees, both 

military and civilian, receive approval 

for engaging in any activity outside their 

work environment, which involves their 

professional expertise or government 

occupation, and involves compensation.

This approval is required prior to 

engaging in the activity. 

In order to get approval, any employee 

can complete a USUHS Form 1004. 

This completed form must be approved 

and signed by each department chair or 

activity head. 

These forms are available in the 

General Counsel’s office or online at the 

USU OGC Web site.

Completed forms must be turned in 

to the General Counsel’s office. The form 

will be routed to the appropriate dean, 

brigade commander or USUHS president. 

Once processing is completed, a 

copy of the approved form will be 

returned to the employee for the 

employee’s records.