The VIII Annual Cape Fear Research Symposium took place on Thursday, May 2, at the Iron Mike Conference Center located on Fort Liberty. 

This meeting of the minds provided a platform to showcase medical research from Cape Fear’s regional educational institutions, medical centers and military organizations including The Geneva Foundation, Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC), Fayetteville State University, the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine and more. 

This year’s event featured 14 podium presentations from area researchers touching on a number of physical, mental and cultural topics from a military focused- medical perspective. 

Guests were treated to lectures such as “Hypertension in Young Adults in the U.S. Military” by Capt. Sean Rogers, MD with WAMC, ‘The Culture of Hazing in the Military” presented by The Geneva Foundation’s Carissa Petrillo and “Assessment of Edamame Culinary trait to Select Healthy Food for Enhanced Battlefield Performance,” among others. 

Beyond the lecture hall, 20 poster presentations were being showcased with researchers ready to present and breakdown their original research and long term case reports. 

Keynote speakers for the event featured Dr. Hershey S. Bell, founding dean for the upcoming Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine and Col. Tyler E. Harris, chief of the  Department of Clinical Investigation at WAMC. 

Col. Harris presented his Keynote lecture “Medical Challenges in Future Large Scale Combat Operations.” This research combined outside findings on the shifting landscape of war and how the U.S. can remain strong in the face of advancing enemy technologies and the medical implications of those changes. 

“It was really more about what do we conceptualize the future combat environment to be? Because that's sort of what our responsibility is as military medical officers to plan for. What I'm interested in doing is spurring their research efforts to do things that are military relevant for us for the future conflicts so that we're prepared,” shared Col. Harris. 

Editor’s Note: This is a story in progress. An updated version, including the winners of the symposium will be posted as the event progresses.