The Source for Navy News
Navy Doctor Earns Award For Developing Better Body Armor
Story Number: NNS040903-07
Release Date: 9/3/2004 1:44:00 PM
By Ellen Maurer, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Navy Orthopedist Capt. Marlene DeMaio received the Frank Brown Berry Award in Federal Health Care in August in recognition of her research and development of better body armor for Marines in combat zones.
Awarded annually by U.S. Medicine magazine, in partnership with Delta Dental, the Brown Berry Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to medicine emanating from the federal sector.
DeMaio’s project, completed while she was assigned to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, focused on evaluating three different types of body armor systems. DeMaio and her team of medical doctors, engineers, corpsmen and technicians, knew that protective gear was effective, but military weapons could cause injuries behind the armor.
Non-penetrating ballistic injury can cause “soft tissue damage” when the energy from the bullets hit the person’s chest. The Interceptor plate provided the best protection from high velocity rounds. As a result of the research, Interceptor was then fielded to Kosovo and Afghanistan. Interceptor is the armor system being used in Iraq.
“The project was a team effort to validate the efficacy of the Interceptor body armor system, and to gather information to develop and improve body armor,” said DeMaio. “It is saving lives, by all accounts.”
The award is open to federal health professionals from all fields, including research, administration and clinical practice.
A team of five judges, including two Navy admirals, selects each year’s winner.
Besides an award certificate, DeMaio is featured in this month’s issue of U.S. Medicine magazine. She also received a $10,000 cash award, which she is donating to additional research. DeMaio is currently stationed at Naval Medical Clinic Annapolis, Md., and will be transferring to Naval Hospital Portsmouth, Va., where she will continue this research.
For related news, visit the Naval Medicine Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/mednews.
E-mail this story to a friend | Send a comment about this story
NSWC Dahlgren Teams to Provide Vehicle Armor to Troops - 8/22/2004Seabee Ingenuity Creates New OIF Vehicle Armor - 4/27/2004
|
All Any Exact |
|
