KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Navy Medicine Research and Development (NMR&D) personnel arrived in Kissimmee on August 3 to kick off the Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS).

MHSRS, a four-day symposium running this year from August 3-6, is one of the largest military research conferences. Held annually, it provides researchers, industry, and academia with multiple forums to share with stakeholders in military health the latest research findings on advancements to improve warfighter health and lethality.

NMR&D attendees this year come from across eight commands: Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC), Naval Health Research Command (NHRC), Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) and Naval Medical Research Units (NAMRU) Dayton, San Antonio, EURAFCENT, INDO PACIFIC and SOUTH.

Over the next few days, NMR&D personnel will lead over 70 poster presentations and 27 lectures and breakout sessions, representing the multitude of specialties within the enterprise.

“MHSRS provides a unique opportunity for researchers across NMR&D to showcase our incredible breadth and diversity of research,” said Capt. Tatana Olson, commanding officer at Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory. “It provides a venue for us to build vital partnerships with industry and academia to advance the health, readiness and performance of the joint warfighter.”


During the opening plenary session, the Translational & Clinical Research Department from NMRC received the 2026 MHSRS Outstanding Research Accomplishment Team award, as acknowledgement for the research they completed over the past year within the infectious diseases directorate, which has had a direct impact on the health and readiness of the warfighter.

“Day one of MHSRS highlighted the power of collaboration across military medicine,” said Jill Phan, NMRC’s science director. “It’s exciting to see Navy researchers sharing their expertise alongside our internal and external partners to advance innovative solutions that improve warfighter health and readiness.”

NMR&D leadership arrived in Kissimmee a day early for the annual Commanders Conference. Attendees included commanding officers and science and technical directors. Leadership across all eight commands discussed upcoming changes to the NMR&D structure, operational activities and high-priority areas of focus for the upcoming fiscal year.

“We’ve had a strong start that has set the tone for a productive week of scientific discovery and collaboration,” said Phan.

MHSRS is the DoD’s premier scientific meeting that focuses on the unique medical needs of service members, bringing together healthcare professionals, researchers, and DoD leaders for four days of critical learning, intensive idea sharing and relationship building.

NMR&D, a global collective of eight commands, conducts research in support of Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighter health, readiness and lethality, across a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. NMR&D studies infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, directed energy health effects, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.