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College of Medicine's CMDD Included in Texas A&M Defense Projects in Final Defense Bill

Skip breadcrumb navigation WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 21, 2005) - U.S. Representative Chet Edwards, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, has secured $9.7 million for defense projects at Texas A&M University under the final 2006 Defense Appropriations bill, which passed the U.S. House early Monday morning. The bill is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Bush.

"Texas A&M is a national leader when it comes to innovative research and I am pleased that House and Senate negotiators agreed with my request for these key defense research projects at Texas A&M," said Edwards. "These priority programs will strengthen our nation's defense, improve our homeland security, and support jobs and economic growth in the Brazos Valley."

Edwards secured $1.5 million dollars for a consortium including Texas A&M, Department of Defense labs and the University of Texas to develop smaller, smarter military satellites. "These satellites will improve our defense intelligence and communications and save taxpayers millions of dollars by being easier to launch due to their lighter weight. They would also be designed to fix their own satellite malfunctions, thus making it unnecessary to launch new satellites to replace them," said Edwards.

A&M would also receive $1.2 million to improve the military's ability to detect airborne chemical and biological contaminants. "This important project will help protect our troops in combat against chemical and biological attacks and could be used to protect our cities and communities from terrorists using chemical and biological agents," said Edwards.

Edwards added $6 million for two important programs at the Texas A&M Health Science Center. First, $2.6 million was allotted for the Vaccine Delivery Program, a project within the Center for Microencapsulation and Drug Delivery (CMDD). The CMDD is a multidisciplinary faculty group from the A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and four other colleges with the capability to design and test delivery of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. A high priority for center research is one-time delivery of vaccines, drugs and antidotes in human medicine using new types of slowly dissolving capsules and nanoparticles.

"The newest methods would allow personnel to carry vaccine capsules and medications in their pockets and take orally if needed in a crisis situation. While these are immediately useful to military personnel, such products may also protect the general public against deliberate release of harmful agents including bacteria, viruses and toxins," said Edwards.

$3.4 million for the A&M Health Science Center Rural and Community Health Institute (RCHI)'s work relating to a Department of Defense-funded project to create a Trauma Registry and Research Database. RCHI will partner with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAIR) in this project. "With advances in battlefield medical care and personal armament for soldiers, survivability for injured soldiers is at an all-time high. However, many survivors are faced with recovering from severe traumatic injuries. Currently there is no methodology that can accurately assess the trauma being faced in today's conflicts, nor a soldier's treatment and recovery from those wounds over time. This project will fill this gap," said Edwards.

"Finally, A&M would receive $1 million to continue its partnership with Ft. Hood in digitizing our Army tanks and vehicles. This project, which I have supported for a number of years, has dramatically improved the effectiveness of our Army tanks in combat.

All these defense projects are part of a long-term plan to enhance and strengthen Texas A&M's historic partnership with the Department of Defense," said Edwards.

Courtesy of Josh Taylor


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