WASHINGTON, DC—Veterans and servicemembers may be able to help each other overcome stigma in seeking psychological help, officials said during a webinar on combating stigma in the military hosted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE).

BETHESDA, MD—At the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP), headquartered at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, researchers are in the business of asking tough questions and then going after the answers. “We are not a funding agency. We are not a granting agency, where people bring ideas and we fund them. We are a research organization that works in collaboration with others to conduct investigations,” Brian Agan, MD, director of IDCRP’s HIV/STI Working Group (WG), said of IDCRP.

WASHINGTON, DC—Many who smoke are also using smokeless tobacco. New data compiled by CDC that covers use of smokeless tobacco in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam found that the rates of smokers who also use smokeless tobacco, including chew tobacco and snuff, range from 0.9% in Puerto Rico to 13.7% in Wyoming.

WASHINGTON, DC—DoD is in the midst of deploying a tool that will automate recordkeeping for anesthesiologists.

WASHINGTON, DC—The hepatitis C (HCV) treatment program in VA marks its 10-year anniversary this year on a note of hopeful expectation. For years the only treatment for HCV has been combination pegylated interferon and ribavirin—a treatment with harsh side effects and a cure rate between 20% and 25% among VA patients. But several new drugs currently in development promise to almost double that success rate, which is good news for VA’s 150,000 HCV patients.

WASHINGTON, DC—A report released last month by a nonprofit organization calls for increased education efforts to encourage flu vaccination, especially among minority groups.

WASHINGTON, DC—The Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP) has announced that it has established a new $17 million Military Suicide Research Consortium (MSRC).

Washington, DC—Researchers at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, TX, have developed a new system to help providers better resuscitate burn patients with large burns.

NEW YORK CITY, NY—The student sitting across from you is withdrawn, a little hostile, and tired all the time. He has missed assignments, been repeatedly absent, and when he does show up for class, he sometimes falls asleep mid-lecture. If you begin the conversation from a place of compassion and concern, you will eventually be able to convince him to go see someone at the counseling center on campus. If you aggressively confront him about his grades, he will shut down and the session will end with the student no better off.

This scenario is part of a training simulation called At-Risk®, designed by Kognito Interactive, and it is played out on a computer using avatars. In the simulation, you play the part of the professor, with the goal of recognizing students who are suffering from psychological distress and directing the simulated conversation in such a way that they agree to seek help.

WASHINGTON, DC—Providers play an important role in HIV prevention and care, and IHS is hoping to help providers carry out that role through online training that was developed last year. IHS in collaboration with community members and Native American healers developed an online training module for providers that covers HIV information relevant to serving the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) community.