Burns are among the most serious injuries to our combat service members.  These injuries can pose severe threats to life, cause permanent damage and scarring, and are remarkably painful.  I am leading the effort among my Senate colleagues to increase funding for military burn research to improve the outcomes for service members who suffer these injuries.

The Military Burn Trauma Research Program is currently limited by the fact that military burn patients are geographically disbursed across the nation and have varying degrees of injury.  To address this, the Burns Outcome Research Institutes was established with the goal of conducting research at multiple centers and fostering collaboration between military and civilian burn surgeons, researchers and specialists.

My recent efforts have focused on gaining adequate funding to establish these centers so that research can be undertaken to help our service members who have suffered burn injuries.  Currently, there are over 1,000 service members who have suffered significant burn injuries since the start of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  We owe them the highest and best level of care, and my aim is to help provide it.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator