AFRL partners with Kettering Health Network on human performance research

  • Published
  • By John Schutte
  • Human Effectiveness Directorate
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate is joining the Kettering Health Network on a quest to learn more about the relationship between human stress and fatigue, and to determine how to improve human performance in stressful situations. 

Officials announced the unique collaboration Tuesday at Ridgeleigh Terrace in Kettering, the former home of inventor Charles F. Kettering which now houses executive offices for the Kettering Medical Center Network. 

"This program is an excellent illustration of the value created when we combine the strengths of the health industry, academia and the military to move our scientific knowledge base forward," said Colonel Patricia A. Reilly, chief of the Human Effectiveness Directorate's Biosciences and Protection Division. "Such joint efforts allow for more creativity and innovation, and help us avoid duplication as we seek to better protect our warfighters and improve the quality of life for the civilian population." 

The collaboration is implemented through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the Air Force and the Kettering Health Network. 

"In the Global War on Terror, we are asking more and more of our warfighters," Colonel Reilly said. "Many must endure missions of 20, 30 or more hours with little or no rest. Because this high incidence of stress and sleep disruption is becoming more the norm than the exception, we must invest in research to shed more light on the relationship between stress and fatigue, as well as the impact of these stressors on human performance." 

Ohio Lt. Governor Lee Fisher praised the partnership, calling Wright-Patterson AFB "a jewel in Ohio's crown" and noting the partnership's $5 million impact on the local economy. 

"The greatest fatigue counter-measure ever invented is collaboration," Fisher said. "What you're doing here is eliminating Ohio's (economic) fatigue." 

AFRL's top fatigue countermeasures researcher, Dr. J. Lynn Caldwell, has relocated to the Dayton area from Brooks City-Base, Texas, to help lead research activity from offices at the Kettering Medical Center laboratory.
 
Under separate agreements, Siemens Medical Solutions USA will place its latest imaging technology at the Kettering Medical Center and the University of Dayton Research Institute will provide researchers. 

"KHN has deep roots in technology transfer and innovation in general, but this is perhaps the most significant advancement we have ever made," said Kettering Health Network CEO Frank Perez.
 
Air Force researchers want to learn the value of different fatigue-fighting strategies such as nutritional supplements and alternate training methods so they can minimize chemical intervention and its potential for side effects, Colonel Reilly said. 

The results of this partnership could improve performance not only for warfighters but also civilians in jobs requiring long hours such as truckers and surgeons. 

Researchers hope also to advance imaging techniques and identify individualized diagnostic and treatment options for people in poor health. 

"People don't have to go to Mayo or to the Cleveland Clinic to get the best possible diagnostics and high-tech equipment. It's right here in the Dayton region," said JP Nauseef, CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition.