Orlando, FL —Scientists, breast-cancer survivors and advocates gathered at the recent Era of Hope conference to learn about the advances made by the DoD Breast Cancer Research Program awardees, and to identify approaches for future breast cancer research.

WASHINGTON — Of the nearly 19,482 full-time civilian physicians employed by the federal government, about 9% were eligible for Physicians Comparability Allowance (PCA) payments, but only 7% actually received it in FY 2010.

Please read this article and participate in this month's online opinion poll about whether physicians working for the federal government are paid fairly in comparison to those in the private sector?

With as many as 212,000 servicemembers suffering a TBI over the last decade, military clinicians are searching for the most effective neuroimaging methods to diagnose and treat the injuries.

WASHINGTON — A recent report on federal government plans to curb drug abuse puts added emphasis on the active-duty military and the veteran population. It also focuses more attention on misuse of prescription drugs and, as far as recovery efforts go, on mental health.   

WASHINGTON, DC— Families of servicemembers who commit suicide will now receive condolence letters from the President, just as families of troops who die in combat or of other service-related injuries currently do.

Philadelphia - Veterans who have attempted to kill themselves suffer elevated risks of mortality from all causes, not just suicide, according to a recent study. And the problem is not likely to improve anytime soon: The study cited research showing that troops returning from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have a greater suicide risk than veterans of past wars.

Linda Resnik, PhD, a VA research-health scientist at the Providence VA Medical Center was collaborating on a study with researchers at DoD’s Center for Intrepid (CFI) when the site principal investigator there was reassigned to a different location. A second DoD site principal investigator who took over was subsequently also reassigned to a different location.

WASHINGTON — Military medicine may have dodged a bullet this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reconsider a case involving the Feres Doctrine, which, in effect, bars active-duty personnel from filing medical malpractice lawsuits against DoD health care providers. Opponents of the law, however, vow to continue the fight in Congress, the only remaining battleground. Please read this article and participate in this month's online opinion poll about whether the Feres Doctrine should be overturned and active-duty military servicemembers be allowed to sue DoD health care providers for medical malpractice.

Arlington, VA — The Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Thailand ran the world’s largest HIV vaccine trial from 2003-2009. The Naval Medical Research Unit 3 in Egypt detected the first human case of Avian influenza in Egypt in 2006.

With an influx of women veterans entering the VA system in higher numbers than ever before, the department has given women’s health care high priority. One step in addressing this growing population is assessing what women are looking for in a VA health-care experience.