The first-of-its-kind military lab is part of the health system's growing push into military medicine. This military lab will work on ways to figure out how soldiers get hurt and develop programs to prevent injuries.
AP quotes Scott Lephart, the project's principal researcher from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as saying, "We do these same tests on the Pittsburgh Steelers."
"We know that an offensive lineman and a defensive back need different training, and that's the same approach we are taking with these soldiers," he added.
According to the Department of Defense, there has been a sudden rise in the musculoskeletal injuries to soldiers all over the globe including sprains, tears, and fractures.
Since these injuries had a similar nature as the sports personnel have, the idea of this lab came into picture. The lab has been granted a $2.75 million grant to test nearly 900 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell. It will also test them during training on base and after they return from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
