opposed to focusing just on the human angle.”
Currently he’s working “a lot with Ebola issues. Te Global Health Secu- rity Agenda, biosurveillance, medical countermeasures to chemical agents, bio- surveillance and antimicrobial resistance are some of the big pushes of the office.” Willens is departing in January for West Africa for a three-week voluntary rota- tion as an operations officer in support of Operation United Assistance. He vol- unteered, he said, because “I don’t want [Ebola] getting here any more than I want ISIS”—the so-called Islamic State—
”getting here. I’ve got three kids. I’d rather fight it there than fight it here,” a theme that runs through Willens’ service.
NOVEL TECHNIQUE
What do you do, and why is it impor- tant to the warfighter?
I recently became deputy medical direc- tor in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense. Before this post, I was the deputy chief of the Analytical Toxicology Division, and chief, Neu- robehavioral Toxicology Branch [in the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense], where I supervised and mentored scientists and techni- cal staff involved in state-of-the-science multidisciplinary research to develop medical countermeasures against chemi- cal agents. I was also a co-investigator for a Commander’s Innovative Research and Discovery Program to noninvasively characterize cyanide toxicity in mice through imaging techniques, represent- ing a clinically relevant means to track progression of cyanide pathology in the brain, heart and lungs, and potentially prevent or reverse damage by medical countermeasures. As lead surgeon for the institute, I developed a novel technique for implanting telemetry transmitters for
Willens demonstrates the surgical implantation of a telemetry device measuring electrocardiographic and electroencephalographic activity in a guinea pig. Willens trained veterinary surgeons from several DOD laboratories in a technique he developed to implant the telemetry transmitters to augment studies examining the adverse effects of biological and chemical agents. (U.S. Army photo)
physiologic monitoring in Goettingen minipigs, and I trained veterinary sur- geons from several DOD laboratories in the technique to augment studies exam- ining adverse respiratory, neurologic and cardiovascular effects of biological or chemical agents.
I established the collaborative inter- agency Access to Troops initiative for clinical trials and investigations as deputy director for grants management at Con- gressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) from 2010 to 2011, and proactively managed the life cycle and transition of $10.7 million in peer- reviewed Orthopedic Research Program grants as a science officer.
While deployed to Babil province, Iraq, in 2007 with the 4th Brigade
Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division’s Embedded Provincial Recon- struction Team, I conceived and planned the Central Euphrates Farmers Market, which brought video teleconferencing capability, equipment, collection animals and continuing education and training to the Baghdad Zoo veterinarians as criti- cal components of the counterinsurgency mission of the surge.
I’ve attained Level III certifications in science and technology management and program management, as well as Level I certification in test and evaluation.
I’m currently serving in a one-year detail assignment that began Oct. 1, 2014, at the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense, which draws on my background
ASC.ARMY.MIL 65
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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