WRNMMC, Bethesda, Md.   –   Researchers looking to carry on the distinguished medical legacies of Robert A. Phillips and Bailey K. Ashford, presented their investigative work for judges during the annual research symposium competition hosted by the Department of Research Programs at Walter Reed on May 8.

Projects in this year’s competition in laboratory and clinical categories focused on care for spinal injuries, amputations, traumatic brain injury, adolescent obesity, and ovarian carcinoma. Other projects showcased research concerning shoulder pain and weakness treatment, thyroid disease care, cardiac complaints in youth during the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting radiation exposure from diagnostic imaging, celiac disease and pneumococcal infections in pediatric patients, prescription disparities, insomnia treatment, monitoring antibiotics levels in neonates, and tele-training to ensure effective ventilation in neonatal resuscitation.

In addition to patient care and readiness, research and education are hallmarks of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), said retired Army Col. (Dr.) Clifton Yu, deputy director for the Department of Education, Training and Research. He added that WRNMMC’s predecessors, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center, were founded on research. The namesake of the medical center, Maj. Walter Reed, achieved notoriety for leading the research team that confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species rather than by direct contact, Yu added.

“Research is the foundation of everything we do at this academic medical center,” he continued. He said the late Army Col. Bailey K. Ashford (1873-1934), after whom one of the awards the researchers are competing for is named, was a pioneering physician in the treatment of anemia. Ashford researched treatment against the hookworm while stationed in Puerto Rico, which led to the cure of approximately 300,000 people (about one-third of the Puerto Rico population), reducing the death rate from associated anemia by 90 percent.

Yu added that the late Navy Capt. Robert A. Phillips (1906-1976), after whom the second award is named, did seminal research leading to therapies that helped save the lives of hundreds of thousands of cholera victims. During World War II, Phillips developed battlefield methods to evaluate hemoglobin levels using specific gravity, saving many lives. He later focused his scientific attention to research on the problems of nutrition in the developing areas of the world.
Yu also introduced the symposium’s guest speaker, retired Navy Capt. (Dr.) Eric Elster, professor and dean of the Uniformed Services University’s F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine. He described Elster as “the most prodigious and prolific researcher in a variety of areas from precision medicine to all aspects of combat casualty care in military medicine. He has a portfolio of more than 200 publications.”

Elster, an organ transplant surgeon, was recently inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Fewer than 30 surgeons throughout the world each year are selected for the honor, which is earned by “individuals of outstanding academic merit, or other outstanding contributions to the profession.”

During his presentation at Walter Reed for the research symposium, Elster explained that he became a transplant surgeon because “of the technical precision it takes to be a transplant surgeon. When we do a transplant, such as a kidney transplant, you can’t redo the vessels. You get one shot. That really appealed to me. Also, transplant surgeons tend to be the surgeons that others looked to for help. So that appealed to me on the clinical side.”

“On the research side, we’re doing this completely [remarkable] thing of moving an organ from one body to another and trying to understand the [science] of that is amazing,” Elster added.

“You’ve got to be persistent,” Elster said in describing what it takes to be an effective researcher. He also encouraged people to have “multiple irons in the fire,” and not limit themselves to just one area of research.

“[Research] is extremely rewarding, but it’s not easy,” Elster continued. “No one is going to do it for you. You have to do it. You also need mentors and resources. You have to keep at it.” He has received numerous research grants spanning all aspects of surgery.

Elster earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa and completed a general surgery residency at the former National Naval Medical Center, now WRNMMC. He later served as ship’s surgeon aboard the USS Kitty Hawk during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After returning from the Persian Gulf, he completed a solid organ transplantation fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, then directed a translational research program at the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, with a focus on developing improved diagnostics and therapies for serious traumatic injuries, transplantation, and advanced operative imaging.

“I get super excited hearing the results of our researchers,” Elster said. “It’s extremely rewarding to do research, combining it with your clinical practice, and doing something that matters. It keeps the fire going,” he concluded.