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Physiologist recognized at national conference

  • Published
  • By Sue Campbell
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  A flight commander for the 359th Aerospace Medicine Squadron was honored during this year's annual Aerospace Medical Association conference, held May 10-13 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Lt. Col. Lance Annicelli, 359th AMD Operational Physiology Training flight commander, was awarded the 2010 Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Branch Research and Development Innovation Award. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated innovative life sciences and biomedical engineering research as related to the design and/or development of aerospace medical equipment or systems.

He also received the 2010 Paul Bert Award for outstanding research contributions in aerospace physiology.

Both awards were presented for his research in aircrew protection, specifically in the field of enhanced protection from high-G forces.

"This recognition was fantastic and caught me completely by surprise," Colonel Annicelli said.  "We have been working on this project for almost five years. It's certainly quite an honor to be recognized by my peers."

Colonel Annicelli's G protection research has received numerous accolades throughout the Air Force for the unique and novel approach to acceleration protection. He teamed up with Dr. Ulf Balldin to develop a patent-pending concept of G protection through electrically stimulating the muscles of the lower body. A prototype garment designed to be worn by a pilot under the flight suit provides a unique form of acceleration protection by automatically sensing and contracting the lower body muscles during and throughout excessive G-forces, which helps sustain adequate blood flow to the brain.

"It's definitely a thrill to be a part of a project that will hopefully make a significant difference in aircrew performance and protection," said Colonel Annicelli.