USARIEM Leadership
Commander
Col. Michael I. Cohen
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine
Col. Michael I. Cohen is the commander of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.
Cohen's most recent assignment was as the U.S. 8th Army Command Surgeon, and he is a member of the Class of 2022 U.S. Army War College Distance Education Program. He received his commission as a Medical Officer through the Health Professions Scholarship Program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a graduate of the Army Medical Department Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Airborne School; Army Flight Surgeon Course; Navy Dive Medical Officer Course; Survival, Evacuation, Resistance and Escape school; Intermediate Level Education; and the AMEDD Executive Skills Course.
He previously served as the medical advisor for the NATO Special Operations Headquarters in Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium. Previous assignments include service as a battalion surgeon for 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne); chief of Primary Care at Wuerzburg Army Medical Activity; clinic officer in charge for U.S. Army Special Operations Command; director of Family Medicine Obstetrics for the Family Medicine Residency Program at Womack Army Medical Center; deputy commander for Clinical Services at McDonald Army Health Center; and command surgeon for U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Cohen deployed to Mosul, Iraq, as the chief of Primary Care and Emergency Services with the 67th Combat Support Hospital from 2004 to 2005. He returned to Mosul as a squadron surgeon with 2nd Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Armor Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armor Division from 2011 to 2012.
Cohen earned his medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with 3 OLCs, OIF Campaign Medal with OLC, and the Korea Defense Service Medal. He received the 'A' Proficiency Designator from the U.S. Army Surgeon General, Order of Military Medical Merit, Combat Action Badge, Expert Field Medic Badge, Flight Surgeon Badge, Parachute Badge, and Navy Dive Medical Officer Badge.
Dr. Karl E. Friedl
Senior Research Scientist Performance Physiology
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine
Dr. Karl E. Friedl received B.A. (1976) and M.A. (1979) degrees in zoology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Ph.D. degree in biology (1984) through the Institute of Environmental Stress in the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Friedl retired from thirty years of active duty service in the Army in 2013, where he had last served as Director of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Previously, he served as Commander, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM); Director, Army Operational Medicine Research Program; Principal Investigator, USARIEM; and Chief of Physiology and Biostatistics Service, Madigan Army Medical Center.
Dr. Friedl's research has been focused on extending limits of human physiological performance. He has made specific contributions in the areas of endocrine regulation in semi starvation, physiological effects of anabolic steroids, body composition methods and standards, physiological monitoring, and metrics of research return on investment. He has published nearly 200 original articles, book chapters, technical reports, and commentaries, and made over 250 scientific presentations at national and international meetings. He is a co-inventor on an Army patent for a system for remote neuropsychological assessment. He has served as chair of numerous NATO and Army panels and committees, and served on program review committees for NASA, National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the Wellcome Trust, and university thesis committees in Iceland, Italy, France and Finland. During his Army research management assignments Friedl was responsible for administration of $3.5 B in appropriated RDT&E funds and organized major initiatives such as the Defense Women's Health Research Program (DWHRP), Technologies for Metabolic Monitoring (TMM), Bone Health and Military Medical Readiness (BHMMR), Gulf War Illnesses research program (GWIRP), and the Army's Parkinson's research program (NETRP).
Dr. Friedl is a Professor (adjunct) in the Department of Neurology at University of California, San Francisco. He also currently serves as Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
This year he was recognized with a Professional Career Achievement Award from the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. He has been recognized with national awards from both the Parkinson's Action Network (Udall Award) and the Alzheimer's Association (Ronald and Nancy Reagan Award) for his advocacy of "dual use" research that has helped to advance research for the Soldiers as well as serving the needs of neurodegenerative disease patients. He has also received a Founder's Award from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the Diabetes Research Leadership Award from the Diabetes Technology Society, the Society of Armed Forces Medical Laboratory Scientists (SAFMLS) Outstanding Research and Development Scientist Award, the French National Order of Merit (Chevalier), the Legion of Merit (2nd Oakleaf Cluster), and the Order of Military Medical Merit.