Just like a sci-fi movie, DARPA always delivers the goods. You can do a search on here for all my previous DARPA articles, but it is the mad scientist wing of the Pentagon developing all the Acme Corporation toys that Wile E. Coyote used to chase the roadrunner. DARPA is now looking to develop suspended animation processes where a soldier who suffers a serious injury that requires immediate attention can be suspended for up to six (6) hours until he/she reaches a hospital. It is limited to six (6) hours now, but DARPA will likely perfect it, so a person can be suspended indefinitely. In the Aliens movie, Ripley was in suspended animation (or hypersleep) for 57 years!
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Saving Lives On The Battlefield Focus Of Major $9.9 Million Award To Texas A&M Institute For Preclinical Studies
COLLEGE STATION, Dec. 3, 2009 – As part of Pentagon efforts to dramatically reduce battlefield deaths, the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS) has been awarded a $9.9 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop frontline treatments for U.S. military personnel injured in combat and suffering from massive blood loss.
It is estimated that half of U.S. military personnel killed in action die because of severe blood loss from injuries such as gunshot wounds or improvised explosive devices (IEDs). When such a severe blood loss occurs, it is critical for the injured person to receive emergency trauma care within the first hour (“the golden hour”) to provide the highest chances of survival. Unfortunately, many combat casualties occur in inaccessible locations where rapid evacuation is impossible.
The goal of the research to be carried out by TIPS is to develop and test small volume medications that can be given rapidly on the battlefield to extend the “golden hour” by as much as six hours. If successful, these medications would give injured troops a much higher chance of survival.
The DARPA grant is the first multi-million dollar award for TIPS, and among the largest single competitive federal awards received by Texas A&M University. A grand opening ceremony for TIPS featuring Gov. Rick Perry will be held today on the Texas A&M campus.
“Developing an effective, easily administered medication that could extend the ‘golden period’ to five or six hours would save countless lives that would otherwise be lost,” said Dr. Theresa W. Fossum, founder and director of TIPS and who holds the Tom and Joan Read Chair of Veterinary Surgery at Texas A&M.
Fossum said that the principal investigator for the TIPS research, Dr. Matthew W. Miller, (Professor of Veterinary Cardiology and Senior Research Scientist at TIPS) “has developed a model that serves as a predictive test bed for evaluation of these potential treatments.” Fossum said TIPS is working collaboratively with other academic centers and the federal government on several potential treatments, some of which have shown promise in reducing the body’s need for blood and oxygen.
“Our team feels very fortunate to have been chosen to work on this important issue,” said Miller. “Our new facility coupled with access to the incredible breadth of expertise on the Texas A&M campus positions us for success. We are actively evaluating several promising treatments in our model. Once we have indentified an effective intervention we will move forward with evaluations required by the FDA to facilitate gaining approval for future evaluations in humans. Beyond the primary military application we are optimistic that, like many other DARPA funded initiatives, there will be important civilian applications for the knowledge gained during these investigations.”
While the TIPS program has been nationally recognized for several years, its new building on the Texas A&M campus provides Fossum’s nationally acclaimed team the facilities and sophisticated technological equipment necessary to perform the studies. “These state-of-the-art facilities really give TIPS the means to propel our faculty and staff to the next level. TIPS has become a unique national resource, capable of rapidly evaluating medications and devices according to the highest FDA quality standards (known as Good Laboratory Practices, or ‘GLP’),” Fossum said.
“The research being performed by Dr. Miller and Dr. Fossum is truly world-changing,” said Dr. Brett Giroir, vice chancellor for research for the A&M System. “Essentially, TIPS is attempting to prove that a ‘hibernation-like’ state can be induced in any mammal, and eventually humans. Early work by TIPS may soon enable human trials of some of these new therapies, which may also be life-saving for victims of heart attacks and strokes.”
Combat injuries resulting in severe blood loss ideally respond to hemorrhage control, large volume fluid resuscitation and rapid evacuation to a surgical hospital, said Fossum. “By using cardiovascular system models that are similar to that of humans, we are able to accurately predict the safety and efficacy of any potential therapies. In combat situations, lives are measured in a matter of seconds. If we can extend a soldier’s life for a couple of hours so that adequate medical treatment can be made available, we have an obligation to do so,” she said.
The TIPS faculty and programs are supported by three buildings totaling approximately 112,000 square feet. TIPS is a foundational member of the Institute for Innovative Therapeutics (IIT) – a new overarching program designed to develop and commercialize new medications, vaccines, and medical devices for human and veterinary use. TIPS is located adjacent to the other two components of the IIT – the Texas A&M Institute for Genomic Medicine and the future National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing. In addition to Texas A&M University, funding partners in TIPS include the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, Texas Economic Development Bank, The Research Valley Partnership and the Texas Department of Transportation.
About Research at Texas A&M University:
As one of the world's premier research institutions, Texas A&M is a leader in making significant contributions to the development of new knowledge in many fields, including the life sciences, agriculture, engineering, the geosciences, the biomedical sciences and the liberal arts. Research conducted at Texas A&M represents an annual investment of more than $582 million making it one of the top 20 research universities in the United States. Texas A&M ranks third nationally for universities without a medical school. Texas A&M research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting in many cases in economic benefits to the state, nation and world.
About the A&M System
The A&M System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $3.2 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, seven state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the A&M System educates more than 115,000 students and makes more than 15 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. Externally funded research expenditures exceed more than $676 million and help drive the state’s economy.
Contact: Jason Cook at 979.458.1729 or Jason.Cook@tamu.edu
For more news about Texas A&M University, go to http://tamunews.tamu.edu.
Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tamutalk.
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Saving Lives On The Battlefield Focus Of Major $9.9 Million Award To Texas A&M Institute For Preclinical Studies
COLLEGE STATION, Dec. 3, 2009 – As part of Pentagon efforts to dramatically reduce battlefield deaths, the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS) has been awarded a $9.9 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop frontline treatments for U.S. military personnel injured in combat and suffering from massive blood loss.
It is estimated that half of U.S. military personnel killed in action die because of severe blood loss from injuries such as gunshot wounds or improvised explosive devices (IEDs). When such a severe blood loss occurs, it is critical for the injured person to receive emergency trauma care within the first hour (“the golden hour”) to provide the highest chances of survival. Unfortunately, many combat casualties occur in inaccessible locations where rapid evacuation is impossible.
The goal of the research to be carried out by TIPS is to develop and test small volume medications that can be given rapidly on the battlefield to extend the “golden hour” by as much as six hours. If successful, these medications would give injured troops a much higher chance of survival.
The DARPA grant is the first multi-million dollar award for TIPS, and among the largest single competitive federal awards received by Texas A&M University. A grand opening ceremony for TIPS featuring Gov. Rick Perry will be held today on the Texas A&M campus.
“Developing an effective, easily administered medication that could extend the ‘golden period’ to five or six hours would save countless lives that would otherwise be lost,” said Dr. Theresa W. Fossum, founder and director of TIPS and who holds the Tom and Joan Read Chair of Veterinary Surgery at Texas A&M.
Fossum said that the principal investigator for the TIPS research, Dr. Matthew W. Miller, (Professor of Veterinary Cardiology and Senior Research Scientist at TIPS) “has developed a model that serves as a predictive test bed for evaluation of these potential treatments.” Fossum said TIPS is working collaboratively with other academic centers and the federal government on several potential treatments, some of which have shown promise in reducing the body’s need for blood and oxygen.
“Our team feels very fortunate to have been chosen to work on this important issue,” said Miller. “Our new facility coupled with access to the incredible breadth of expertise on the Texas A&M campus positions us for success. We are actively evaluating several promising treatments in our model. Once we have indentified an effective intervention we will move forward with evaluations required by the FDA to facilitate gaining approval for future evaluations in humans. Beyond the primary military application we are optimistic that, like many other DARPA funded initiatives, there will be important civilian applications for the knowledge gained during these investigations.”
While the TIPS program has been nationally recognized for several years, its new building on the Texas A&M campus provides Fossum’s nationally acclaimed team the facilities and sophisticated technological equipment necessary to perform the studies. “These state-of-the-art facilities really give TIPS the means to propel our faculty and staff to the next level. TIPS has become a unique national resource, capable of rapidly evaluating medications and devices according to the highest FDA quality standards (known as Good Laboratory Practices, or ‘GLP’),” Fossum said.
“The research being performed by Dr. Miller and Dr. Fossum is truly world-changing,” said Dr. Brett Giroir, vice chancellor for research for the A&M System. “Essentially, TIPS is attempting to prove that a ‘hibernation-like’ state can be induced in any mammal, and eventually humans. Early work by TIPS may soon enable human trials of some of these new therapies, which may also be life-saving for victims of heart attacks and strokes.”
Combat injuries resulting in severe blood loss ideally respond to hemorrhage control, large volume fluid resuscitation and rapid evacuation to a surgical hospital, said Fossum. “By using cardiovascular system models that are similar to that of humans, we are able to accurately predict the safety and efficacy of any potential therapies. In combat situations, lives are measured in a matter of seconds. If we can extend a soldier’s life for a couple of hours so that adequate medical treatment can be made available, we have an obligation to do so,” she said.
The TIPS faculty and programs are supported by three buildings totaling approximately 112,000 square feet. TIPS is a foundational member of the Institute for Innovative Therapeutics (IIT) – a new overarching program designed to develop and commercialize new medications, vaccines, and medical devices for human and veterinary use. TIPS is located adjacent to the other two components of the IIT – the Texas A&M Institute for Genomic Medicine and the future National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing. In addition to Texas A&M University, funding partners in TIPS include the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, Texas Economic Development Bank, The Research Valley Partnership and the Texas Department of Transportation.
About Research at Texas A&M University:
As one of the world's premier research institutions, Texas A&M is a leader in making significant contributions to the development of new knowledge in many fields, including the life sciences, agriculture, engineering, the geosciences, the biomedical sciences and the liberal arts. Research conducted at Texas A&M represents an annual investment of more than $582 million making it one of the top 20 research universities in the United States. Texas A&M ranks third nationally for universities without a medical school. Texas A&M research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting in many cases in economic benefits to the state, nation and world.
About the A&M System
The A&M System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $3.2 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, seven state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the A&M System educates more than 115,000 students and makes more than 15 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. Externally funded research expenditures exceed more than $676 million and help drive the state’s economy.
Contact: Jason Cook at 979.458.1729 or Jason.Cook@tamu.edu
For more news about Texas A&M University, go to http://tamunews.tamu.edu.
Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tamutalk.
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