Harnessing Full Value from the DoD Serum Repository and the Defense Medical Surveillance System

For the past twenty years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has maintained a serum repository and associated database. Both of them have expanded in size, and in recent years they have been assigned additional mandates and requirements that extend beyond their original purpose, which was related to HIV testing, to serve deployment health surveillance and military force health protection more broadly. The Army's Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM) serves as executive agent in managing the DoD Serum Repository (DoDSR) and Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS) on behalf of the entire department. As the mandate and value of these resources have grown, there has not been a commensurate systematic assessment of capabilities and untapped opportunities to better fulfill their missions, nor a consideration of how these might be better positioned to meet the needs of the military of the future. With these factors in mind, CHPPM commissioned this study, conducted from July 2006 to February 2008, to examine current requirements and capabilities, identify gaps, and suggest strategies to improve the capabilities of these resources to meet current and potential future needs in the areas of surveillance, outbreak investigation, research, and clinical support, particularly as these relate to influenza and other infectious disease threats. This report focuses on the current and potential role of the DoDSR and associated DMSS database to support comprehensive health surveillance referring to surveillance over the career lifetime of a service member and across all locations, epidemiological investigation, research, and clinical management. We reviewed DoD policy, doctrine, and other published documents as well as published scientific literature, and we interviewed health experts inside and outside DoD to help identify and assess issues and their potential solutions. LCCN 2010023629