Improving human health and performance is a shared area of focus for both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD) that offers a chance for unique, cross-governmental collaboration. The discovery of new or unexpected biological factors that influence health have direct applicability to the military's efforts in strengthening able-bodied servicemen and advancing field-level injury prevention and treatment. An inventive partnership has sparked between scientists in the NIH community (specifically, the National Cancer Institute's Center for Strategic Scientific Initatives) and the forward-leaning Rapid Fielding (Rapid Reaction Technology Office) community in Department of Defense. At a fundamental level, the guiding principles of these two offices similarly seek to build cooperation and leverage other federal resources in seeking new peerspectives and approaches in the science and technology community.
