Special Notice 06-20: PREventing Violent Explosive Neurologic Trauma (PREVENT) Teaming and Information Session DATE: March 27, 2006, REGISTRATION DEADLINE: March 17, 2006, TECHNICAL POC: Dr. Geoffrey Ling, DARPA/DSO, Ph: (571) 218-4974, URL: www.preventblast.com PREVENT Teaming and Information Session, SN06-20. The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is sponsoring a teaming and information session for PREVENT, a potential new DARPA program. This potential program would explore innovative research into the causes of traumatic brain injury resulting from exposure to explosions. Traumatic brain injuries are especially prevalent among soldiers that have been exposed to improvised explosive devices, in some cases absent of any other injury. Traditional methods of correlating the overpressure “blast” wave to injury fail to explain this result. DARPA/DSO recognizes that mitigating, preventing, and treating these injuries is of vital importance to soldier health. Of particular interest to this program are complete analyses of all the physical forces released by an explosion and correlated to biologically relevant models of injury, from the cell to the whole body model. Innovative and revolutionary research that is multi-disciplinary and led by a strong systems integrator is strongly encouraged. The teaming and information session will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway, 801 Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA, on March 27, 2006. The goals of the teaming and information session are: (a) introduce the research community (industry, academia, and Government) to the PREVENT program vision and goals; and (b) encourage and promote teaming arrangements among potential research organizations that have the relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities for executing a research and development program responsive to the PREVENT program goals. The teaming and information session will include overview presentations by Government personnel and a poster session to facilitate interaction and team building among the teaming and information session participants. Additionally, a teaming website is provided to facilitate these interactions and can be found at http://www.preventblast.com. Appropriate teaming will be a critical element in responding to an anticipated DARPA PREVENT solicitation. Teaming and information session participants are strongly encouraged to prepare posters describing areas of capabilities in order to facilitate communications, interactions, and teaming discussions during the poster session. Posters must be submitted by March 17, 2006, at 4 P.M. ET. A maximum of 100 4ft. by 4 ft. posters can be accommodated. Teaming and information session details (including registration information and poster submissions) are given on the PREVENT website at http://www.preventblast.com. There is no fee for any teaming and information session activities. Registration is limited by the venue capacity (maximum of 100 attendees) and early registration is strongly recommended. The registration cutoff date is March 17, 2006, at noon ET, or at attendance capacity, whichever comes first. Further administrative information is available from Michelle Mann (
[email protected]). Additional technical information can be obtained from Geoffrey Ling (
[email protected]). Please refer to the “PREVENT Teaming and Information Session” in correspondence. This announcement is not a request for proposals. The solicitation document is available at http://www.darpa.mil/baa/baa06-24.html. Material presented at the teaming and information session, including posters presented at the poster session, DARPA presentations, and any DARPA response to clarification inquiries, will also be available at http://www.preventblast.com for those interested in BAA06-24 but unable to attend. Original Point of Contact Geoffrey Ling, DARPA Program Manager, Phone (571) 218-4674, Fax (703) 807-4956