Naval Health Research Center

Providing the Tools for Warfighters to Maintain Their Cognitive Capabilities Under Extreme Cold Weather Conditions 💻🥶

For U.S. warfighters working in extreme operational environments, the cold-shock response doesn’t just take your breath away, it can disrupt the ability to think. In these high-stress emergencies, the ability to recall survival training is critical to saving the lives of the individual and, potentially, the unit.

Read the full story here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/565305/providing-tools-warfighters-maintain-their-cognitive-capabilities-under-extreme-cold-weather-conditions

NHRC Researchers Seek to Supplement the Sun and Raise Marine Recruit Vitamin D Levels ☀️

Recent studies indicate that recruits arrive at boot camp with dangerously low levels of vitamin D. While many believe being outdoors in the sun is enough to maintain healthy vitamin D levels, experts say it is not enough to provide the boost needed for the intense physical demands of Marine training.

Without enough vitamin D, the body struggles to function. This can lead to health issues and injuries such as muscle weakness, increased fatigue, weakened immunity and bone fragility.

Read full story here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/564786/nhrc-researchers-seek-supplement-sun-and-raise-marine-recruit-vitamin-d-levels

🚀 Going interstellar!

🤝 We collaborated with NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration on the mission's groundbreaking AVATAR study to explore the effects of deep space on human health.

⚓ Powered by U.S. Navy personnel, this innovative research uses organ-chip technology to analyze astronauts' responses to microgravity and radiation, paving the way for personalized medical treatments for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Naval Medical Forces Pacific | Naval Medical Research Command

Naval Health Research Center Supports Groundbreaking Artemis II 'Avatar' Experiment SAN DIEGO– The Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) provided its lab facilities and personnel to support a NASA study from the Artemis II mission on April 11, 2026.Following the splashdown and recovery

NHRC Supports Groundbreaking Artemis II ‘Avatar’ Experiment 🧑‍🚀🚀🌑

Following the splashdown and recovery of the Orion spacecraft on April 10, a team of NASA, Harvard and Space Tango scientists and engineers met its naval recovery vessel, the amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), to secure the Orion payload and bring it to NHRC labs to begin analysis of the A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response (AVATAR) investigation. AVATAR used organ-chip technology to study bone marrow during the journey around the Moon.

Read full story here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/564023/naval-health-research-center-supports-groundbreaking-artemis-ii-avatar-experiment

Welcome home, AVATAR! The Artemis II crew brought back more than memories. This hardware, signed by all four astronauts midway through the mission, carried personalized organ chips on a 10-day journey around the Moon. The chips are now on their way to research labs where scientists will analyze how deep space radiation and microgravity affected bone marrow cells. The data may help protect future crew. Naval Health Research Center go.nasa.gov/4m5dGH9

Memory Encoding Under Cold Stress at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson 🖥️🧠🧊

Members of Naval Health Research Center’s (NHRC) Environmental and Thermal Physiology team unload research equipment for the Memory Encoding Under Cold Stress study at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The study, conducted by NHRC, assesses the effects of cold-water immersion on cognitive function to improve warfighter survivability.

NHRC, part of Navy Medicine Research & Development, supports Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighter readiness and lethality with research and development that delivers high-value, high-impact solutions to the health challenges U.S. military population faces on the battlefield, at-sea, home and abroad.

Read the full story here: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/9605082/memory-encoding-under-cold-stress-joint-base-elmendorf-richardson

(U.S. Navy photos by Matthew Reyes/released)

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/561228/millennium-cohort-study-marks-25-years-groundbreaking-military-health-research

Millennium Cohort Study Marks 25 Years of Groundbreaking Military Health Research SAN DIEGO - Naval Health Research Center’s (NHRC) Millennium Cohort Study, the largest prospective health study of U.S. service members and veterans, celebrates its 25th anniversary in July. Launched in 2001 as a result of the 1999 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Section 743, which mand...

NHRC Bids Farewell to Lt. Cmdr. Marler ⚓️

Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Marler of Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) is recognized for his dedicated service during a retirement ceremony, marking 20 years of service in the United Stated Navy. Of those 20 years, Marler served as Medical Modeling and Simulation department’s deputy director from October 2022 to February 2026. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and presented with a command plaque.

NHRC, part of Navy Medicine Research & Development, supports Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighter health readiness and lethality with research and development that delivers high-value, high-impact solutions to the health and readiness challenges U.S. military population faces on the battlefield, at-sea, home and abroad. (U.S. Navy photos by Matthew Reyes/released)

The first plunge into icy water is a shock to the system. For a warfighter operating in extreme cold-weather environments, a fall into near-freezing seas isn’t a mishap; it’s a life-or-death battle that is won or lost in the first few minutes.

Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) scientists spent six days this winter at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) in Bridgeport, California, doing research in the Sierra Nevada. Working in air temperature hovering at 19 degrees Fahrenheit and with water temperatures at 34 degrees, researchers are working to give U.S. warfighters the tools to win that battle.

Read the full story to learn more about the findings from this research—and the impact it’s making to policy for the warfighter. 👇

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/560221/mastering-first-breath-navy-medicine-research-fortifies-warfighter-against-colds-lethal-shock