On the eve of Veterans Day, U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, a Colorado member of Congress who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, paid a visit to the University of Colorado Anschutz’s Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research and was briefed on its mission of saving and improving lives on the battlefield and at home.
On his Nov. 10 visit, Crank, R-Colorado Springs, was greeted by CU Anschutz Department of Emergency Medicine Chair Vik Bebarta, MD, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and the founding director of the COMBAT center; along with center co-founder and deputy director Brig. Gen. Kathleen Flarity, DNP, PhD, an associate professor of emergency medicine; and Anne Libby, PhD, professor and vice chair for academic affairs at the Department of Emergency Medicine.
“The center is focused on saving and improving lives on the battlefield and back home,” Bebarta told Crank. “Back home means here in Colorado, in our backyard, meeting these tough medical challenges for military service members and bringing those solutions back to our community. For every military challenge we address, there’s a mirror need in civilian care.”
The COMBAT center is the nation’s largest academic military health research program, with more than 100 investigators and over 80 Department of Defense-funded research grants, Bebarta said. Crank learned how the center’s research focuses on translating military medical gains into better health care for all, and how it advances the next generation of military physicians and researchers through education and mentorship.
Proud of the military community
Crank represents Colorado on the House Armed Services Committee along with U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora. A native Coloradan, he is serving his first term representing Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District, an area that hosts five military installations as well as the United States Air Force Academy, and is home to a large veteran population.
Crank said he appreciated learning more about the “great work” being done at the COMBAT center and at CU Anschutz.
“We’re very proud of our military community that we have in El Paso County and our veterans, and we take great pride in providing them the best care that we possibly can,” he said.
The presentation highlighted COMBAT’s partnership with military health agencies and others on impactful clinical trials, including the three-year “Hotel2Hospital” project demonstrating how a civilian hotel can be quickly converted into an intensive-care hospital to handle a sudden surge of patients caused by war, pandemic, or natural disaster.
Bebarta noted that 13 military clinical practice guidelines have been updated through large-scale trials at the COMBAT center, indicating that the center is a trusted partner of the military. He said the center emphasizes accelerated innovation and the delivery of cost-effective solutions.
Facing traumatic brain injury
Crank is aligned with the COMBAT center and the CU Anschutz Marcus Institute for Brain Health, where Flarity is executive director and Bebarta is strategic lead, in supporting research initiatives aimed at protecting servicemembers from traumatic brain injury, particularly those related to blast exposures, leading to better diagnostics and treatment. The Marcus Institute also provides personalized care supporting active-duty service members, veterans, and first responders who’ve experienced traumatic brain injury.
Crank and Crow recently co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that calls for the military to develop a comprehensive strategy for treating traumatic brain injuries through the use of artificial intelligence and other digital health technologies.
Crank also serves on the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors. In 2024, the CU School of Medicine and the academy signed an educational partnership agreement that was spearheaded by the COMBAT center. It’s the academy’s first partnership with a medical university.
Bebarta also briefed Crank on the COMBAT center’s work and partnerships in suicide prevention and mental health, as well as its leadership in disaster preparedness. And he said the center has had a significant impact on the community through training programs and research.
Crank is the latest of several high-level federal officials to visit the COMBAT center in recent years, including former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Lester Martínez-López, MD, MPH, in 2023; former Defense Health Agency Director Telita Crosland, MD, in 2024; U.S. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi; and Crow. Current U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins toured the Marcus Institute in July.
In April 2025, the COMBAT center hosted more than 100 leaders in military health research from academia, government, industry, innovation, and the armed forces for its inaugural ELITE Research Symposium. The attendees came together to identify and solve the U.S. military’s toughest combat medical challenges.
Also meeting with Crank on Nov. 10 were CU Regent Ilana Dubin Spiegel; Thomas Flaig, MD, CU Anschutz vice chancellor for research; Neil Krauss, CU Anschutz assistant vice chancellor for initiatives and community engagement; CU Senior Vice President for External Relations Danielle Radovich Piper; and CU Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations and Outreach Annie Larson.
Photo at top: CU leaders meet with U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank to discuss the CU Anschutz Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research. From left: Thomas Flaig, MD; Kathleen Flarity, DNP, PhD; Rep. Jeff Crank; Vik Bebarta, MD; Ilana Dubin Spiegel; Danielle Radovich Piper; Neil Krauss; and Anne Libby, PhD. Photo by Tori Flarity for CU Anschutz Center for COMBAT Research.
