CHS Professor Receives $3.8M Office of Naval Research Award to Advance Warfighter Performance Monitoring

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 8, 2025) — A College of Health Sciences professor at the University of Kentucky has been awarded a $3.8 million grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to lead a groundbreaking project aimed at enhancing performance monitoring and injury prevention in military aviation personnel.

Joshua Winters, PhD, CSCS, is Associate Professor in the Department of Athletic Training and Clinical Nutrition, as well as the Rehabilitation Sciences PhD Program and the Sports Medicine Research Institute. His three-year project, titled “Restoration and Maintenance of Physical and Neurosensory Performance (RaMP) in Naval and Marine Corps Aviation,” will focus on developing a field-ready system to assess musculoskeletal and neurosensory function in service members. The initiative is a collaborative effort with the Naval Medical Center San Diego, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, University of Montana, and JAG Human Performance Consulting.

“The overall goal of this research is to optimize and integrate a comprehensive, field-ready protocol for monitoring musculoskeletal and neurosensory performance within the Naval and Marine Corps aviation communities,” Winters said.

The RaMP platform will enable rapid detection of physical and neurosensory performance deficits, helping identify opportunities for targeted training or rehabilitation. This data-driven approach aims to support military readiness and operational effectiveness by enhancing evidence-based decision-making for injury prevention and recovery.

“RaMP is designed to provide functional biomechanical and neurosensory information quickly, enhance the ability to evaluate treatment effectiveness, and improve evidence-based treatment decisions,” Winters said. “It will offer a lasting solution for systematic human performance assessment that can be applied not only in research but also in real-world military training environments and potentially in deployed settings.”

Scott Lephart, PhD and Dean of the College of Health Sciences, praised Winters and his team for their national-level impact.

“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Winters and the entire research team,” Lephart said. “This award is a testament to their hard work and innovation, and it reinforces the College of Health Sciences’ commitment to advancing human performance and injury prevention. Projects like this reflect the important role our college plays in protecting not only the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, but Americans across the nation — including those who serve.”

By integrating advanced analytic modeling and data visualization tools, the RaMP platform seeks to significantly improve the ability to detect, manage and mitigate injuries among military personnel.

For more information about research in the College of Health Sciences, visit https://www.uky.edu/chs.

This work is sponsored by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research under ONR award number award N00014-25-1-2288. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research.

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