MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS, USA. Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) concentrates on targeting the most common and debilitating injuries caused by this generation’s wars. The regenerative medicine aims to expedite medical breakthroughs from several decades to less than a decade. It will provide hope and a new life to veterans/soldiers that have been incapacitated by wars.

Dr. Joachim Kohn experienced the devastations caused by wars. He lived in Germany with Jewish parents who had lost most of their siblings. He studied Chemistry in Israel and earned his Ph.D. He then moved to the United States to work on his post-doctorate in Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His famous accomplishment was his work with polymers that created drugs that break down over time in the human body.

Aside from the emotional and psychological damages caused by wars, the most visible are those that can be seen on the physical level. The common physical injuries are burns, invasive wounds and lost limbs. The technology in medicine during those times was still limited. A veteran who has survived his injuries is most likely incapacitated for the rest of his life. AFIRM wants to change that mentality.

AFIRM can absolutely hasten the research and development process in regenerative medicine. Recent casualties in Middle East can immensely benefit from these new breakthroughs in medicine. Injured soldiers will now have new limbs, bones, skin and ears that will make them recognizable. It will also provide the healing of their emotional and psychological traumas. Such breakthroughs will make them fully functional beings that can still contribute to the society.