Ongoing Operational Research into Advanced Capabilities

Elizabeth K. Powell, MD
Assistant Professor
Emergency Medicine and Surgery

Colonel Bruce Andrew Lynch, MD
Director, C-STARS Baltimore

Col Bruce Lynch is the Director of the Air Force Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills-Baltimore, US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, 711 Human Performance Wing, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He directs the largest Military-Civilian medical partnership in the Air Force.  He and his staff of 35 active-duty members and civilians are responsible for the pre-deployment medical training of over 500 airmen annually.

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Jody Cantu, PhD
AFRL ERC PAL

Dr. Jody C. Cantu is a Senior Research Biologist and Product Area Lead for En Route Care at the Air and Space Biosciences Division, Product Development Branch, En Route Care Section (RHBAM) of the Air Force Research Laboratory based in Baltimore, Maryland. She is responsible for the technical leadership of the En Route Care section and a ~$14M/year 6.3 RDTE portfolio including strategy, performance, execution, and appropriate customer engagement for products in development. Dr. Cantu previously served as the Senior Scientist and Medical Research Site Lead at the University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMB).  She served as AFRL principal investigator (PI) on several Department of Defense funded proposals that studied groundbreaking research on En Route Patient Care and provided technical management for a $49M cooperative agreement. Prior to entering civil service, she served the United States Air Force (USAF) for ten years as a defense contractor with General Dynamics Information Technology at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. During her tenure at GDIT, she performed scientific research for the Radiofrequency Radiation Bioeffects Branch, Bio-effects Division of the Airman Systems Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory at JBSA Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In this role, she conducted state-of-the-art research defining the biological effects of radiofrequency radiation on biological systems.  This research was published in 13 peer reviewed journal articles, 10 presentations at international conferences, and numerous USAF technical reports.

Zachary H. Buono 
Senior Biomedical Engineer

Mr. Buono is a Senior Biomedical Engineer supporting the University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMB) for the En Route Care Section of the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). He currently leads the IMPACT project and provides technical expertise for the REVIVE project and several other AFRL research efforts. His research interests focus on medical device interoperability, telemedicine, automated control systems, and uncrewed autonomous vehicles.  Prior to joining AFRL, Mr. Buono was a Principal Investigator at the US Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center and a COVID-19 special program lead at the National Institutes of Health. He is also a post-graduate LinQ Catalyst Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-founder of endoscopy robotics company Ergoscopic Medical. Zack holds a Master of Science and Engineering (MSE) in Bioengineering Innovation and Design from the Johns Hopkins University and has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed papers and abstract presentations. 

 

Piersson Hoenisch
Laboratory Manager

Piersson Hoenisch serves as the laboratory manager in the ARC3 Lab. Prior to joining ARC3, Mr. Hoenisch conducted research at both Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and UT Southwestern Medical Center. His research interests include using animal models to address life-threatening cardiology and endocrinology cases, as well as pediatric neuro-oncology. His work focused on utilizing novel murine models with varied Nf1 knockout backgrounds to investigate treatments for rare pediatric cancers affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. Mr. Hoenisch has presented his findings at several conferences, including the Society of Chinese Bioscientists of America. He holds a Bachelor's of Science in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Maryland, College Park (2023).