Learning to Care for Those in Harm’s Way

The Official USU Newsletter

Volume 12, Issue 3 ■ April 3, 2017

 www.usuhs.edu
2 the pulse April 3, 2017

Sharon Holland

Deputy Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

MC3 Rob Ferrone

Writer and Editor

Christopher Austin

Writer 

MC2 Laura Bailey

Writer and Photographer

Sarah Marshall

Contributing Writer and 

Photographer

Tom Balfour

Photographer

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 is published biweekly on 

Mondays. The deadline for submissions is at 4 p.m. Tuesday prior to the 

publication date. Submissions can be 

sent to christopher.austin.ctr@usuhs.

edu or by calling 301-295-3338.

On the cover

An illustration of the USU campus 

tells us spring is finally here. (Photo 

Illustraion by MC3 Rob Ferrone)

Sherman Awarded Employee 

of the Quarter 

Elena Sherman, a graduate 

education specialist, was chosen as 

senior employee of the fourh quarter 

of 2016 at the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences 

(USU).

Sherman began working at USU 

in 2011 in support of Preventive 

Medicine and Biostatistics Graduate 

Programs. For the past two years, 

she has been with the Graduate 

Education Office in the F. Edward 

Hébert School of Medicine (SOM), 

providing guidance to more than 

200 graduate students.

“Ms. Sherman is responsible for 

coordinating the administrative 

aspects of the overall USU graduate 

program,” said Dr. Gregory P. 

Mueller, associate dean for Graduate 

Education at USU, in his letter 

nominating Sherman. “This is a 

complex and demanding challenge 

that requires considerable attention 

to programmic details, and the 

specific needs of the students, faculty 

and staff involved.”

Sherman is responsible for 

providing support for the USU 

graduate program, including 

preparing reports for the Board 

of Regents, the Dean of the SOM, 

and the University President, while 

simultaneously overseeing the 

graduate student body’s progress 

from admission to graduation. 

“She’s always accessible to answer 

questions from students, faculty and 

staff, and she always demonstrates a 

genuine concern for the well-being 

of the students when their personal 

needs arise,” Mueller said.

On top of this, Sherman helps 

coordinate major university events 

including Research Days, the 

Graduate Student Open House and 

Commencement, and much of the 

new graduate student orientation. 

“Ms. Sherman has taken on many 

challenges in the two years she has 

been in the position, addressing the 

problems with clarity and supportive 

concern for the well-being of the 

graduate students,” said Dr. Brian 

Cox, a professor of Pharmacology 

and Neuroscience at USU.

By Christopher Austin

Elena Sherman, a graduate 

education specialist, has been 

chosen as senior employee of the 

fourth quarter of 2016 at USUHS 

(Photo by Tom Balfour)
3 the pulse April 3, 2017

Continued on pg. 10

Recent cyber-attacks against 

the Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences (USU) 

have made use of ransomware, 

specialized malware that encrypts 

users’ data that can only be unlocked 

by paying hackers for a decryption 

key. While the USU Cyber Security 

Branch does have measures in place 

to prevent malware, the University’s 

best defense is its own users.

Most malware comes to users 

in phishing attacks and through 

browsing of unknown websites. 

Malicious actors send emails under 

the name of someone else in order 

to get them to download infected 

files, or use links that take them to 

infected websites. The last instances 

of malware attacks against USU 

came in the form of a PDF with 

JavaScript that activated once the file 

was opened and it infected Microsoft 

Excel and Word attachments. 

Becaue of these attacks, Cyber 

Security frequently sends out 

phishing alerts to USU users, and 

it is why cyber awareness training 

is an annual requirement for all 

personnel. 

“We get questions every day 

from people asking if [emails] 

are legitimate, which is good, 

because it shows that people are 

aware and they’re being vigilant,” 

said Christopher Jodrie, USU 

Information System Security officer. 

“It’s everyone’s responsibility when 

on the [Department of Defense] 

networks to follow the security 

policies and best practices, and 

people are taking that seriously.”

Systems infected with ransomware 

are likely to infect any associated 

shared drives to which the system 

is connected. When one person's 

computer system is infected, it has 

the potential to impast the entire 

university.

“Surprisingly, the FBI’s 

recommendation on ransomware is 

that, unless you've got a good backup, 

you’re not going to get that data back, 

so go ahead and pay the ransom,” 

Timothy Rapp, vice president, 

Information and Education 

Technology and chief information 

officer at USU, said. “The downside 

of the recommendation is that there 

is no guarantee that they’re going to 

get you that decryption key, nor will 

that potentially be the last payment.”

The Washington Post reported 

that in December of last year Los 

Angeles Valley Community College 

was hit with a ransomware attack 

that ended with them paying the 

$28,000 ransom to regain control of 

their data.

Initially, the threat of ransomware 

only meant the loss of data, but more 

recent versions have also allowed 

malicious actors access to a user’s 

data. Healthcare institutions are 

some of the greatest targets because 

medical records can fetch a higher 

price on the black market than 

most others, including credit card 

statements. 

“There are assigned values for 

certain types of information. The 

best information – the one people 

want the most – is personally 

identifiable information,” Jodrie 

said. “Someone can get credit 

card information, but once you 

realize that your credit card is 

compromised, you cancel it and it’s 

no longer effective. But if someone 

has your personal information, they 

can open up accounts. It’s much 

easier for them to exploit that type 

of information.”

The three institutions targeted 

most by malicious actors are 

education, medical and DoD, 

according to Rapp. “Good luck for 

us, because we’re all three.”

Malicious actors, often attacking 

from foreign locations, write 

programs to create the ransomware 

itself. Each new iteration of the 

ransomware is made to be slightly 

different from the last by these 

programs, making them difficult for 

security programs to quickly adjust 

for scanning. 

“Through Google, we get very 

good virus scanning, but the 

problem is that it can take hours after 

the first version of [the malware] hits 

the Google server before it has time 

to detect it. Because it has to scan 

every email message and drive file,” 

said Sean Baker, chief technology 

officer. “It can take hours to realize 

it’s a malicious file, and it’s in that 

time that clicking on it becomes 

problematic.”

The Network Operations and 

Communications Directorate has 

advocated switching the University 

over from traditional network 

shared drives to Google Drive 

because it provides auditing and 

Malware Attacks on the Rise

By Christopher Austin
4 the pulse April 3, 2017

Army Colonel (Dr.) David M. 

Benedek will succeed Dr. Robert J. 

Ursano as chair of the Department of 

Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences’ 

(USU) F. Edward Hebert School of 

Medicine. Ursano announced last 

year that he would be stepping down 

as chair after 24 years, but will remain 

with the department as the director 

of USU’s Center for the Study of 

Traumatic Stress.

Hebert School of Medicine Dean 

Dr. Arthur L. Kellermann made 

the announcement March 1, 2017, 

touniversity faculty and staff.

“In the parlance of academic 

medicine, Dr. Benedek is not only a 

‘triple threat’ - he's a ‘quadruple threat.’ 

In addition to being an outstanding 

clinician, researcher and educator, 

he is a high performing military 

medical officer, with a past record of 

deployments to hot spots around the 

world in support of our armed forces. 

He'll be a wonderful leader and role 

model at USU," said Kellermann.

Benedek received his B.A. from the 

University of Virginia in 1986 and his 

M.D. from the Uniformed Services 

University School of Medicine in 1991. 

After Internship and Residency 

in Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army 

Medical Center, he served as Division 

Psychiatrist, First Armor Division 

(Germany) and deployed to the 

former Yugoslavia in support of U.S. 

and NATO Troops in Operation Joint 

Endeavor. 

He returned to Walter Reed 

to complete forensic psychiatry 

fellowship training in 1998 and served 

as Assistant Chief, Inpatient Psychiatry. 

He subsequently served as Training 

Director, National Capital Consortium 

Military Forensic Psychiatry 

Fellowship, and remained in that 

position until he joined USU’s fulltime 

faculty from 2004-2015. 

Benedek is presently Director of the 

Walter Reed National Military Medical 

Center’s Center for Forensic Behavioral 

Sciences (CFBS)—a highly acclaimed 

organization operating worldwide 

at the interface between behavioral 

science and the legal, intelligence and 

justice communities. 

The CFBS supports the only 

accredited forensic psychiatry and 

forensic psychology fellowship 

training programs in the DoD.

Benedek has authored or coauthored more than 100 scientific 

publications in prestigious journals 

including Lancet, Molecular 

Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry, 

JAMA Psychiatry, the American 

Journal of Psychiatry, and many 

others. He has presented on numerous 

aspects of PTSD and military, disaster, 

and forensic psychiatry at regional, 

national, and international professional 

and scientific conferences.

He served as a consultant to the 

American Psychiatric Association’s 

Practice Guideline for the treatment 

of Acute Stress Disorder and 

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder workgroup in the development of its 2004 

practice guideline, as lead author on the 

2009 PTSD guideline update and on 

the American Psychiatric Association’s 

Committee on Confidentiality and 

Scientific Program Committee. 

His translational educational skills 

are evident in the highly acclaimed 

books he has edited, including the 

Clinical Manual for Management of 

PTSD –a leading text on an illness of 

critical concern to the military and the 

nation.

Benedek has received more than $10 

million dollars in research funding for 

studies of translational neuroscience, 

disaster response, psychotherapeutic 

and pharmacologic treatments for 

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and 

disaster resilience and preparedness 

programs. 

He directed the National Capital 

Area Integrated Clinical Study Site, 

one of ten clinical sites in the INTRuST 

Clinical Consortium for Psychological 

Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, 

funded by the Congressionally 

Directed Medical Research Program. 

He was the USU site principal 

investigator for the Army Study to 

Assess Risk and Resilience in Service 

Members (Army STARRS) component 

study ‘Soldier Health Outcomes 

Study-B (SHOS-B).’ 

He has extensive collaborations with 

the Veterans Administration (VA) 

and was one of a handful of leaders 

involved in the establishment of the 

VA National PTSD Brain Bank, where 

he serves on its executive committee 

and leads the Assessment Core.

Dr. David Benedek Named New Psychiatry 

Department Chair

Photo by Tom Balfour

Story by Sharon Holland

Continued on pg. 8
5 the pulse April 3, 2017

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) experts 

from universities, federal agencies and 

other ogranizations throughout the 

local area gathered March 8-9, 2017, 

to share research findings during the 

seventh annual National Capital Area 

TBI Research Symposium. The event 

was hosted by the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences 

(USU) Center for Neuroscience and 

Regenerative Medicine (CNRM).

The event brought together several 

hundred researchers from clinical and 

preclinical fields related to TBI and 

psychological health so they could 

share observations and research results, 

in an effort to ultimately improve the 

lives of not just Service members, but 

civilians that suffer from TBI as well.

“Traumatic brain injury is a very 

heterogeneous and challenging 

clinical problem on many levels. The 

field must integrate diverse research to 

address these needs,” said Dr. Regina 

Armstrong, the director of CNRM 

and of the Neuroscience Graduate 

Program at USU. “Our symposium is 

a highly inclusive forum for military, 

federal, and academic research related 

to traumatic brain injury to share 

results, discuss techniques, and foster 

new ideas or collaborations. We also 

build in opportunities for students and 

junior investigators to help develop 

their interest and expertise; they will 

take forward the research we do today 

and do the hard work to turn it into 

future treatments.”

The symposium covered a variety 

of topics in TBI research, which 

researchers summarized in oral 

presentations, poster sessions and 

breakout sessions. Research discussed 

included the effects of air-lifting 

subjects after trauma and how that 

impacts oxygen reaching the brain, 

the difference between the effects 

of repeated mild TBIs on different 

genders, and the different ways that 

parts of the brain recover from mild 

TBIs. 

“This is the third symposium I’ve 

been to. It keeps growing every year,” 

said Christina Marion, a student in the 

Neuroscience Graduate Program at 

USU. “I think my favorite part about it 

is that it brings people from both the 

clinical and preclinical sides together 

to learn from each other. I’m hoping to 

talk with people who can help inform 

my research, and I’m hoping I can 

inform other people’s research as well. 

I find that this symposium is really 

great for that.”

Marion’s project was titled, 

"Attenuation of traumatic axonal 

injury relative to myelin pathology 

after mild traumatic brain injury in 

mice lacking Sarm1." She worked on 

the project under Armstrong and Dr. 

Kryslaine Radomski, a staff scientist 

in the Department of Anatomy, 

Physiology and Genetics (APG) at 

USU.

Marion’s project won first place in the 

graduate student poster presentation. 

Third place was won by another 

USU student, Ashley Russell, a student 

in the USU Graduate Neuroscience 

Program and fellow in the CNRM, 

for her project "Effects of mild brain 

blast injury on neuroendocrine 

stress response." She worked on the 

By Christopher Austin

CNRM Hosts 7th Annual NCI TBI Research

Symposium

Continued on pg. 9

Researchers from around the local area gathered in the National Institute of 

Health’s Natcher Conference Center on March 8 and 9 for the seventh annual 

National Capital Area Traumatic Brain Injury Research Symposium. (Photo by 

Christopher Austin)
6 the pulse April 3, 2017

Army Col. (Dr.) Craig Shriver, 

director of the Murtha Cancer 

Center (MCC) at Uniformed 

Services University of the Health 

Sciences (USU), and professor 

of Surgery at USU, addressed the 

University community during a 

town hall meeting on Feb. 10 to give 

an update on the Federal Cancer 

Moonshot program. 

The Cancer Moonshot is an 

initiative to accelerate cancer 

research by achieving 10 years of 

work over a five year period. It was 

introduced by former President 

Barack Obama during his 2016 

State of The Union address, and led 

by former Vice President Joe Biden. 

The town hall focused on 

the Applied Proteogenomics 

Organizational Learning and 

Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium. 

Created from a collaboration 

between MCC, the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, and the National 

Cancer Institute, APOLLO’s goal 

is to perform in-depth molecular 

analyses of the DNA, RNA, and 

protein elements of up to 8,000 

highly curated human cancer 

specimens of all types that are 

being accrued through the MCC’s 

ongoing IRB approved bio banking 

capabilities

Coinciding with the forum, MCC 

put out a request for applications 

from researchers at USU that 

would give them access to various 

MCC biorepositories, and access 

to working within the APOLLO 

program in addition to $250,000 in 

funding for direct costs.

Members of the USU community 

can become involved by proposing 

research that would dovetale with 

or otherwise meet the needs of, the 

APOLLO program, Shriver said. 

The top three proposals that help 

the APOLLO program with its 

analytics goals will be selected to 

move forward

“It’s not just biobanking, we’re 

going to run these samples through 

the genome center and proteomics 

core of Murtha, but there’s a lot 

of opportunities for scientists to 

engage with the samples,” Shriver 

said. “There’s a tremendous amount 

of opportunities in this type of 

program because this has never 

been done before at this scale.”

Shriver hopes that having the 

USU community involved will help 

generate more possible uses for 

MCC’s biobanks, and more analytic 

and scientific opportunities for the 

data coming off the sequencing 

and proteomic platforms using 

APOLLO samples.

“We really do want – but 

more importantly need – their 

involvement and expertise at very 

basic scientific levels. Even experts 

in immunology, microbiology, 

information technology and data 

science, diabetes and other experts 

who are in these fields – these 

samples will have other genetic and 

protein findings that relate to other 

diagnosis, even extending beyond 

cancer, and understanding the 

relationship between these other 

diagnosis and cancer can indeed be 

an outcome of these projects,” he 

said.

The petabytes of data that will 

result from the APOLLO will be 

available in an open data commons 

in the future, where the anonymized 

data from the human samples will 

be made available to the larger 

scientific community.

“I want to meet the goal in five 

years of having basically the full 

proteogenomics understanding of 

a variety of human cancers, which 

does not exist now, and without 

the cancer moonshot project, 

specifically the APOLLO, would not 

exist in the future,” Shriver said. 

Cancer Moonshot and APOLLO Consortium Offer 

University Researchers an Opportunity for Collaboration

By Christopher Austin
7 the pulse April 3, 2017

Dr. Faye Glenn Abdellah, founding 

Dean of the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences 

(USU) Daniel K. Inouye Graduate 

School of Nursing (GSN), and retired 

Rear Admiral of the U.S. Public 

Health Service (USPHS) passed away 

Friday, Feb. 24, at the age of 97. 

Abdellah was a pioneer and 

internationally recognized leader 

in nursing whose contributions 

substantially improved the nation’s 

health. 

A true visionary, Abdellah was 

dedicated to advancing the nursing 

profession and is considered to be 

among the world’s most influential 

nursing theorists and public health 

scientists.

In 1937, 18-year- old Faye Abdellah 

witnessed the explosion of the German 

passenger airship, Hindenburg, in 

Lakehurst, New Jersey, which became 

a crucial turning point in her life. 

In an interview years later for 

Advance for Nurses, she said, "I could 

see people jumping from the zeppelin 

and didn't know how I would take 

care of them, so I vowed that I would 

learn nursing."

Abdellah earned a nursing 

diploma from the Ann May School 

of Nursing in Neptune, New Jersey, 

undergraduate, masters and doctoral 

degrees from Columbia University, 

NY and graduate work in the sciences 

from Rutgers University. 

She authored more than 153 

publications, some translated into 

six languages, including her seminal 

works, “Better Nursing Care Through 

Nursing Research” and “Patient 

Centered Approached to Nursing,” 

which forever changed the focus of 

nursing theory from disease- centered 

to patient-centered. 

She was the recipient of twelve 

honorary university degrees, and 

numerous awards, including the 

prestigious Allied Signal Award in 

1989 and the Institute of Medicine's 

Gustav O. Lienhard Award in 1992, 

all recognizing her innovative work 

in nursing research and health care.

Abdellah was the first nurse and 

the first woman to serve as Deputy 

Surgeon General (with Dr. C. Everett 

Koop) and was first nurse to hold the 

rank of Rear Admiral (upper half). 

Her incredible leadership abilities 

resulted in many truly remarkable 

accomplishments, including the 

development of the first tested 

coronary care unit, saving thousands 

of lives. 

Dr. Abdellah was renowned as an 

expert in health policies related to 

long-term care, mental retardation, 

the developmentally disabled, aging, 

hospice, and AIDS.

In 1989, she retired from the Public 

Health Service, and shortly thereafter, 

Congress directed the initiation of 

a demonstration program at USU 

for the preparation of family nurse 

practitioners to meet the needs of the 

uniformed services. 

Abdellah stepped forward to assist 

then-USU President Dr. James A. 

Zimble establish the GSN in 1993, 

and under her leadership the GSN 

grew from a single master’s degree 

program with two students, to a 

premier, fully accredited graduate 

school. 

Today, the GSN offers advanced 

practice and research doctoral 

degrees, and more than 700 nurse 

scientists, nurse anesthetists, clinical 

specialists, and family, women’s 

health and psychiatric mental 

health nurse practitioner alumni 

are advancing military, veteran and 

federal health.

Abdellah was a charter Fellow in 

the American Academy of Nursing, 

later serving as the Academy's 

President and in 1994 she was one 

of the first Fellows to receive the 

Academy’s highest honor, the “Living 

Legend" Award. 

In 1999, she was elected to the Hall 

of Fame for Distinguished Graduates 

and Scholars at Columbia University, 

and the following year, was inducted 

into the National Women’s Hall 

of Fame for a lifetime spent 

establishing and leading essential 

health care programs for the nation. 

In acknowledging the recognition, 

Abdellah said, "We cannot wait for 

the world to change... Those of us 

Dr. Faye G. Abdellah, Founding Dean of Daniel K. 

Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, Dies at 97

By Sharon Holland

Continued on pg. 8
8 the pulse April 3, 2017

In addition to past operational 

experiences in Bosnia and Croatia, 

Benedek deployed to Cuba, Iraq and 

Kuwait in conjunction with Mental 

Health Advisory Teams and other 

advisory task forces. 

He served as Consultant to the 

U.S. Army Surgeon General for 

Forensic Psychiatry from 2004–2008. 

His military service awards include 

Defense Superior Service Medal, the 

Meritorious Service Medal and the 

Army Commendation (3OLC).

In 2002 he received the U.S. Army 

Surgeon General’s “A” Proficiency 

Designator (a rare honor for a Major), 

and was inducted into the Order of 

Military Medical Merit. 

He has served multiple terms as 

President of the Society of Uniformed 

Service Psychiatrists — the Military 

District Branch of the American 

Psychiatric Association, and is a 

Distinguished Fellow of the American 

Psychiatric Association. 

He has consulted to the highest 

levels of government leadership on 

matters relating to the psychological 

consequences of disaster, war and 

terrorism.

Benedek has received several 

national teaching awards, including 

the American Psychiatric Association’s 

Nancy C.A. Roeske award for 

excellence in medical education, 

and in 2015, a USU Impact Award 

for Outstanding Contribution to 

Psychiatric Education. 

In addition, he has received the 

National Capital Consortium’s 

LTG Claire Chennault Award for 

Outstanding Military Psychiatry 

Faculty Member. 

During his prior service on USU’s 

faculty, he directed the human 

behavior course, the third-year 

psychiatry clerkship, a fourth-year 

psychiatry elective, and played an 

important role in designing the School 

of Medicine’s current neuroscience 

and behavior module.

"I feel deeply honored to have 

been selected as the next chair of 

Psychiatry at USU. I am mindful of 

the tremendous example Bob Ursano 

has set for many years in leading 

the Department to its well-deserved 

reputation for excellence,” said 

Benedek. 

“I am very grateful for his efforts in 

preparing me to accept the challenges 

ahead, and am also grateful to Dean, 

the selection committee and others 

who have expressed their confidence 

in my ability to do so."

Benedek, continued from page 4

Abdellah, continued from pg. 7

with intelligence, purpose, and 

vision must take the lead and change 

the world. Let us move forward 

together! ... I promise never to rest 

until my work has been completed."

In 2001 she received the "Breaking 

Ground in Women's Health Award”, 

and in 2012, she was inducted into the 

American Nurses Association Hall of 

Fame. Abdellah retired from USU in 

2002 after 49 years of service to the 

Federal government and the nation.

“This is an incredible loss to the 

nation and nursing. Her intellect, 

compassion, and passion for 

excellence will be deeply missed. As 

a former student at USU’s GSN, I feel 

personally blessed to have learned 

from her leadership,” said Rear Adm. 

Susan Orsega, USPHS Chief Nurse 

Officer.

“Dr. Abdellah is a nursing icon for 

leadership in education, research, 

practice and health policy. She has 

influenced almost every aspect of 

nursing and public health. Like 

Florence Nightingale, she has been a 

beacon of light for future generations 

and has provided vision for the 

science and the practice of nursing. I 

was privileged to meet her when I was 

a new graduate and have viewed her as 

a mentor throughout my career. Her 

influence will live on as an inspiration 

to uniformed officers and health 

professionals,” said Dr. Carol Romano, 

dean of the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate 

School of Nursing.

The Graduate School of Nursing, 

in collaboration with the USPHS, 

is planning a memorial tribute to 

honor Dr. Abdellah and the nearly 

half-century of her extraordinary 

contributions to the nation that will 

be held May 2 at the NIH Natcher 

Auditorium.
9 the pulse April 3, 2017

project with Dr. Elizabeth Shupe, a 

research associate in the Department 

of Obstetrics and Gynecology(OBG) 

at USU, Dr. Robert Handa from 

Colorado State University, and Dr. T. 

John Wu from OBG at USU, who is 

Russell’s advisor.

“I would like to take away [from 

the symposium] different views on 

how people not only study injury, but 

how data is analyzed and processed 

to see outcomes,” Russell said.

In addition to learning from 

research techniques and networking, 

the symposium helps researchers 

gain experience in communicating 

their work. 

“I’ve gained new skills as a 

presenter and learned what questions 

to ask other people when I see 

their projects... I hope this will help 

me in my future career,” said Alex 

Velosky, a lab tech in APG at USU. 

He was there to present his poster for 

Cognitive performance of male and 

female C57BL/6J mice after repetitive 

concussive injuries. He worked on 

this project along with. Laura Tucker 

and Dr. Amanda Fu, senior research 

associates at APG in CNRM, Dr. 

Jiong Liu, a research assistant in APG 

and Dr. Joseph McCabe, professor 

and vice chair of APG.

The symposium’s keynote speaker 

was Dr. Melanie Boly, a Belgian 

board certified neurologist who 

is currently in the Department of 

Neurology University of Wisconsin, 

Madison. She gave a talk on her 

specialty, the changes that occur 

in the brain during altered states of 

consciousness. 

The symposium offered qualified 

attendees continuing medical 

education credits, sponsored by 

the Navy Medicine Professional 

Development Center, and continuing 

education in nursing credits as well.

Brain Injury Research, continued from pg. 5

Researchers from around the local area gathered in the National Institute of Health’s Natcher Conference Center on 

March 8 and 9 for the seventh annual National Capital Area Traumatic Brain Injury Research Symposium. (Photo by 

Christopher Austin)
10 the pulse April 3, 2017

Cybersecurity Defense, Continued from 

Page 3

scanning of files, as well as the ability 

for the user themselves to restore 

previous versions of the stored data 

from before an infection. 

It ultimately lies with the users 

to protect against such attacks, and 

inform the Cyber Security Branch 

if such an attack occurs so that 

they can restore data from before 

and minimize further compromise 

of systems and data. There has 

been a case where a user installed 

ransomware and didn’t inform 

InfoSec until over 30 days later, 

when the backups of the data had 

been overwritten with the nowencrypted data, Baker said. It could 

be possible to eliminate the threat 

of phishing by creating a white list 

of contacts that can send USU users 

emails, but that wouldn’t support the 

University, as communication with 

outside parties is how the university 

does business.

“The only defense for that gap 

between the programs scanning 

for the malware and the bad actors 

is the education of the users,” Rapp 

said. “They really are the only true 

defense to fill that gap. We’ve got a 

good set of educated users. That’s 

something we need to continue to 

do.”
11 the pulse April 3, 2017

Final Frame

Capt. Wendy Foster, 1st Year AEGD-2 HI Resident, does an oral screening while Capt. Samuel Tanner, 1st Year 

AEGD-2 HI Resident, prepares paperwork at schools located on Schofield Barracks, HI. AEGD-2 conducted oral 

health presentations, which were attended by nearly 200 kids. The crew did nearly 200 screenings as well. (Courtesy 

Photo)