When Ron Poropatich left the military in 2012, he wasted no time returning to his alma mater. “The day after I signed out of the Army, I signed in at Pitt,” he says. The University of Pittsburgh hired Poropatich to direct its Center for Military Medicine Research, which pursues medical advancements for wounded service members and their families. The position seemed almost tailor-made for him.

In 1988, Pitt’s Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies was dedicated in honor of General Matthew Ridgway, a Pittsburgh native and war hero who jumped with his troops into Normandy on D-Day, became the commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Preventable musculoskeletal injuries pose a significant threat to military readiness. To understand why they happen, Pitt researchers have been working with U.S. Marines during officer candidate school training.