Basic Operational Medical Research Science

The Basic Operational Medical Science program element (PE 0601117E), managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is dedicated to advancing foundational research in medical science and technology to address critical Department of Defense (DoD) challenges. The program seeks to develop fundamental discoveries, tools, and applications that enhance warfighter health, resilience, and operational performance. Key objectives include the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, real-time interventions for acute and chronic illnesses and injuries, and the development of strategies to improve warfighter resilience against operational stressors. The program also emphasizes innovation and the transition of DARPA-funded technologies into practical applications for national defense.

Physiological Overmatch is a major initiative within this program, focused on enabling warfighters to rapidly adapt to extreme physiological conditions encountered during deployment. The initiative investigates novel detection and treatment systems to help soldiers defend against biological pathogens, resist fatigue, combat sleep deprivation, and maintain high operational performance. Planned activities include biospecimen analysis to identify gut-derived biomolecules affecting sleep and arousal, development of devices for in vivo therapy release, and demonstration of pathogen-targeting probiotics. These efforts aim to provide real-time health interventions and improve readiness by addressing fatigue and sleep deprivation.

Combatting Anti-Microbial Resistant Pathogens addresses the growing threat of antimicrobial-resistant organisms and bacterial biothreats, which are significant concerns for military personnel. The program aims to develop chimeric therapeutics that leverage host biological machinery to neutralize or degrade pathogen targets, moving beyond traditional small-molecule drugs. Planned work includes in vivo safety studies, validation for transition to government partners, and establishing Good-Laboratory Practice (GLP) compliant models for safety and toxicity assessments. These advances are intended to provide new countermeasures against both known and emerging infectious diseases that threaten military readiness.

Synthetic Hemo-technologies to Locate & Disinfect (SHIELD) focuses on preventing bloodstream infections in warfighters who suffer trauma, such as burns or blast injuries. The program is developing circulating prophylactic countermeasures that bind and neutralize pathogens in the blood, label them for immune clearance, and deliver targeted therapies. Planned objectives include demonstrating the safety and efficacy of these prophylaxes in preventing fungal and bacterial infections, increasing survival rates, and inhibiting abnormal inflammatory responses. The ultimate aim is to reduce morbidity and mortality from bloodstream infections in combat scenarios.

Anesthetics for Battlefield Care (ABC) seeks to develop safe, field-ready anesthetics suitable for use by minimally trained personnel in austere environments. The program explores the mechanisms of anesthesia at molecular and organismal levels to design novel anesthetics with improved safety profiles. Planned activities involve developing biological models, discovering anesthetic targets, building computational infrastructure for drug design, and modeling physiological responses. This research is critical for enabling life-saving interventions when medical evacuation is delayed.

Objective Prediction of Team Effectiveness via Models of Performance Outcomes (OP TEMPO) aims to enhance military team performance by developing technologies for real-time physiological assessment and predictive modeling of team proficiency. The program collects biobehavioral data to identify signatures of performance and develops models to predict and optimize team effectiveness. Planned efforts include data collection, validation of biobehavioral signatures, and expanding use cases to ensure generalizability. This work supports improved mission readiness and execution.

Other notable efforts include building computational models of microbial cell function to accelerate medical countermeasure development and prevent strategic surprise, and investigating gastrointestinal stimulation to reduce stress and improve decision-making under duress. Additional initiatives have contributed to understanding durable vaccine protection and developing safer pharmacological interventions. These efforts reflect a comprehensive approach to advancing operational medical science in support of DoD priorities.