FAYETTEVILLE — The Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC) is proud to announce that its CORE Innovation Center will house the first office space for the Fort Bragg Research Institute (FBRI), a research program of The Geneva Foundation (Geneva), delivering human performance solutions to the Department of Defense (DoD). A ribbon cutting is scheduled for October 13, 2022, from 6 pm to 8 pm at the FCEDC offices at 201 Hay St. in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Dedicated solely to research that supports the capability of soldiers, FBRI focuses on world-class medical research with a mission to enhance human performance through scientific innovation. Formed in 2018 as a collaborative effort between Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, and Geneva, FBRI links research infrastructure to meet the needs of operational readiness on Fort Bragg. Geneva and FBRI support 20 ongoing studies through full lifecycle research management across Fort Bragg, totaling $12.6 million in funding.
“Harnessing the talent and capabilities of our region, FBRI is doing critical work to support our men and women in uniform,” said Robert Van Geons, CEcD, President and CEO of FCEDC. “Through these collaborative partnerships, we are moving toward a safer, healthier tomorrow for our soldiers. In turn, these efforts will spur new innovations and technologies, ultimately improving the quality of life and well-being of our citizens.
FBRI Executive Director Lt. Col. (Ret) Stephen DeLellis, PA-C, USA, has spent much of his career studying the effects of traumatic brain injury in service members and veterans. In conjunction with WAMC and several universities, he helped to develop a comprehensive neurocognitive baseline and post-injury assessment programs in the DoD.
“As a former Special Operations Soldier and medical officer, I’ve dedicated my career to finding solutions to the problems that our warfighters and commanders of these units face,” said DeLellis.“ Having a physical location at the CORE Innovation Center will allow us to continue to support innovative medical research toward optimizing military human performance through partnering with like-minded organizations on and off of Fort Bragg.”
FBRI is a founding member of the North Carolina Center for Optimizing Military Performance (NC-COMP)consortium of more than 120 North Carolina-based academic, industry, nonprofit, and state government organizations who bring together solutions for preventing injury and speeding recovery, maintaining performance in multi-stressor environments, and enhancing baseline physical and mental performance for the DoD.
FBRI will be located in a space specifically designed as a center for military contractors and innovators in technology.
Launched in 2018, The CORE Innovation Center provides resources for established companies and entrepreneurs to enable them to create the next generation of cybersecurity, augmented reality, digital healthcare, and other technologies. In addition to jobs created by developers, these sectors are an important source of secondary careers and economic growth.
