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MISSION: Assist the United States Armed Forces and to maximize readiness through improved Warrior health and wellness, improved physical and technical performance, and innovative vehicles and equipment in order to fight and win in a complex world. To improve health, wellness, and performance for all tactical athletes enabling them to safely complete the occupational demands of their jobs while staying health and safe.
The Warrior Research Center (WRC):
- develops protocols to reduce the number and severity of musculoskeletal injuries;
- develops improved rehabilitation and treatments to improve Return to Duty tempo;
- explores, develops, and rolls out new strategies to prevent acute and overuse injuries; and
- reduces the long-term impact of musculoskeletal issues on our Forces.
Research
A sampling of our research includes:
- Assessment of how daily job requirements influence Soldier health and wellness
- Assessment of head supported mass on spinal health of the mounted Warfighter
- Influence of vehicle exposure (Stryker, Bradlee Fighting Vehicle, M1-A2 tank, HMVEE) on mounted Warfighter spinal health
- Relationship of Soldier fitness to injury predisposition
- Load and force requirements on the Warfighter shoulder
- Impact of load and force on the Warfighter cervical spine
- Physiology of neuromuscular pathology in UH-60 (Blackhawk helicopter) pilots
- Assessments of institutional changes to improve Soldier fitness and decrease injury
- Cause and prevention of femoral neck stress fractures in Army recruits.
We recently completed three phases of Military vehicle testing, including Bradleys, M1A2 Abrams Tanks, and Humvees as a part of our Mounted Dismounted Spinal Health study. This study investigates factors that influence spinal health in mounted and dismounted Warfighters. It is a multi-phase, multi-year DOD project to assess physiological changes, adaptations, and interventions for injury prevention.
An ongoing project involves assessing injury epidemiology to develop and test injury prevention programs. We also implemented a new project using pre-habilitation to prevent and treat acute ankle injury.
Our research has assessed the biomechanical changes in adaptation to donning of infantry gear and associated pre-disposal for lower extremity injury. Furthermore, we’ve investigated the physiological and anatomical lower extremity effects of long-term flight in rotary-winged pilots. This is also a multi-phase, multi-year DOD project examining the cause of complaints of lower extremity issues in pilots.
Professor
(334) 844-1694
Email JoEllen Sefton, Ph.D.
education_opportunities
The Warrior Research Center (WRC) has a very large outreach program that serves over 60,000 Soldiers annually. The WRC outreach program is integral to our on-going research projects.
We collaborate with researchers from around the country to apply for funding and conduct cutting-edge research. We also have a graduate program for students looking to further their education and research, and we employ a number of individuals.
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