University of Pittsburgh

01/14/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/14/2025 13:40

3 Pitt projects that are helping keep service members and veterans healthy

When Ron Poropatich left the military in 2012, he wasted no time returning to his alma mater. "The day after I signed out of the Army, I signed in at Pitt," he says.

The University of Pittsburgh hired Poropatich to direct its Center for Military Medicine Research, which pursues medical advancements for wounded service members and their families. Since then, the Center for Military Medicine Research and its investigators have been major contributors to the University's growing research expenditures from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) funding, which has totaled more than $500 million since the center's launch.

Today, Poropatich is most excited about a development that could save the lives of soldiers wounded in remote, hard-to-reach locations. In a project funded by the DoD, a team of researchers from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University designed an autonomous system to continuously resuscitate patients with severe traumatic injuries.

"You only have a short window in trauma care to really make a difference," says Poropatich. Poropatich's research - featured in the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research's 2023-2024 Annual Report - is just one facet of Pitt's burgeoning research focus in military medicine. Read on to learn how Pitt is helping keep America's service members and veterans healthy.