
ABOUT
Mission
To facilitate nursing research to optimize the health of military members and their beneficiaries
Vision
Foster innovative research, support partnerships, inform leaders, and support operationally relevant research and Evidence-Based Practice.
Strategic Goals
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Develop nurse scholars and facilitate TriService scholarly collaboration.
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Provide a TriService infrastructure to enhance military nursing research and advance Evidence-Based Practice.
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Support research and Evidence-Based Practice projects on areas relevant to military readiness and military nursing practice.
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Enhance strategic communication to TSNRP stakeholders to increase awareness and relevance of military nursing research and Evidence-Based Practice.
Research Interest Groups (RIGs)
RIGs are teams that connect multidisciplinary researchers, clinical nurses, and students with common interests for collaboration, mentoring, and education. Members gain opportunities to join research projects, step into leadership, and network with peers. RIGs are organized around the following priorities in military nursing:
Executive Director COL Young John Yauger, AN, USA, CRNA, PhD
COL Young (John) Yauger is the current Executive Director of TriService Nursing Research Program, the only Department of Defense (DoD) program dedicated to military nursing. TSNRP is responsible for funding, training, and disseminating military nursing research and evidenced-based practice. Over a 22-year career as an US Army Nurse, COL Yauger served as a critical care nurse, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), an assistant professor in nurse anesthesia, and deployed 3 times in support of the war on terrorism, most recently in 2018 conducting golden hour offset surgical team operations for the Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan.
COL Yauger earned a PhD in neuroscience from the Department of Defense’s
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). COL Yauger is the first US Army CRNA to become a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) service chief fellow. His research interests include combat/ expeditionary nursing, resuscitation, anesthesia, traumatic brain injury, innovative technology, and neuroinflammation.
COL Yauger began his nursing career as an Army ROTC 4-year nursing
scholarship recipient at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. During his time at Marymount, COL Yauger served as the school’s Student Nurses Association. After earning a BSN in 2000, COL Yauger commissioned into the Army Nurse Corps. Initially, he served as a medical-surgical, pediatric, and critical care nurse at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. In 2003 at the onset of the Global War on Terror, COL Yauger deployed with the 28 th Combat Support Hospital to Iraq as a critical care nurse. While on deployment, COL Yauger met several Certified Register Nurse Anesthetists, which solidified his decision to pursue advanced practice nursing in the
field of anesthesia. He attended USUHS for nurse anesthesia school and graduated as the outstanding student of the class in 2007. While serving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he deployed as a CRNA with the 541 st Forward Surgical Team in Afghanistan in 2010. Next, He attended graduate school again to earn a PhD in Neuroscience. While in graduate school, COL Yauger studied the impact of iron on neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury.
Following graduate school, COL Yauger served as an assistant professor at the
US Army Graduate Program of Anesthesia Nursing (USAGPAN). He is a published author and assistant professor of anesthesia, biochemistry, and leadership. During his assignment at USAGPAN, He deployed with the 759 th FRST and conducted Golden Hour Offset Surgical Treatment (GHOST) operations with the Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan. In 2020, COL Yauger served at DARPA as a subject matter expert on neuroscience and combat anesthesia topics. His positive contributions focused project efforts toward the multi domain operational environment and led to the creation of new projects identifying potential artificial blood products and innovative
triage technology.

COL Young John Yauger
Executive Board of Directors

COL Hope M. Williamson-Younce
Deputy Corps Chief
Army Nurse Corps
COL Williamson-Younce is a board-certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Certified Emergency Nurse. She is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit. COL Williamson-Younce began her service in 1983 as a Private and achieved the enlisted rank of Staff Sergeant with deployment to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm before selection to the Army Enlisted Commissioning Program. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing as the Distinguished Honor Graduate from Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN before commissioning as an officer in the Army Nurse Corps.
She holds a Master of Science dual degree in Nursing as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist in Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care from the University of Maryland. She holds a Masters in Strategic Studies and is a graduate of the Army War College. She earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL.

Brig Gen Jeannine M. Ryder
Commander, 711th Human Performance Wing
Air Force Research Laboratory
Brig. Gen. Jeannine M. Ryder is Commander, 711th Human Performance Wing (HPW), Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson, Air Force Base, Ohio, and Chief of the Air Force Nursing Corps. The 711 HPW advances human performance and integration for air, space, and cyberspace through research, education, consultation and operational support. The Wing operates at seven geographically separated sites, and includes the Airman Systems Directorate and the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Brig. Gen. Ryder oversees more than 2,000 personnel and an annual $400 million budget. She provides strategic direction for Air Force biotechnology, public health training, and aeromedical consultation. As Chief Nurse of the Air Force, Brig. Gen. Ryder creates and evaluates nursing policies and programs for 19,000 active duty, Guard and Reserve nursing personnel. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Boston College. She has commanded at the flight, squadron, and group level in both deployed and in-garrison environments.

Rear Admiral Cynthia A. Kuehner
Director, Navy Nurse Corps Commander
Naval Medical Forces Support Command
RDML Cynthia A. Kuehner earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Hawaii, a Master of Science in Nursing from the Uniformed Services University of the Heath Sciences, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was commissioned as an Ensign in 1991. Her previous assignments include senior nurse of Bravo Surgical Company, augmented to the 1st Medical Battalion in Fallujah, Iraq; Senior Medical Officer and Executive Officer of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, Khost, Afghanistan; medical staff and primary care manager, Naval Health Clinic, Corpus Cristi, Texas; Executive Officer, Naval Medical Center San Diego, and Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan. Her recent staff assignments include commander’s action group and assistant deputy chief, medical operations, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery deputy chief, operations, plans, and readiness in January 2020. She assumed her current position of Commander, Naval Medical Forces Support Command and Director of the Navy Nurse Corps in August 2020.

Brig Gen Katherine A. Simonson
Deputy Assistant Director for Research and Development, Defense Health Agency
Brigadier General Simonson joined the Defense Health Agency as the Deputy Assistant Director for Research and Development in January 2021. In prior assignments she served as the Commander, 2nd Medical Training Brigade, under medical Readiness and Training Command (MRTC), and completed an operational tour as the Deputy Commander, Task Force 8th MED, in Qatar. BG Simonson is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Her education includes a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Masters of Nursing in both Critical Care and Education from the University of Washington. Brigadier General Simonson is a graduate of the AMEDD Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Medical Management ofChemical Biologic Casualty Course, AMEDD Critical Care Nurse Course, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, (CAS3) and U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and the Army War College.
Research Interest Group Leaders & Deputies

LTC John Reed
Anesthesia RIG Leader

LCDR Justin Hefley
Anesthesia RIG Deputy

Lt Col Sarah Huffman
Biobehavioral Health RIG Leader

MAJ Amanda Canada
Biobehavioral Health RIG Deputy

Lt Col Tonya White
Expeditionary RIG Leader

MAJ Angela Samorsorn
Expeditionary RIG Deputy

LTC Tanekkia Taylor-Clark
Health Systems/Informatics RIG Leader

Maj Stephanie "Jill" Raps
Health Systems/Informatics RIG Deputy

LT Dehussa Urbieta
Military Family RIG Leader

MAJ Wendy Hamilton
Military Family RIG Deputy

LTC Leilani Siaki
Military Women's Health RIG Leader

CAPT Jennifer Buechel
Military Women's Health RIG Deputy
TSNRP Organizational Chart
