By Rachel Hopton, Ph.D., Technical Program Manager at AV
Modern warfighters operate in an environment where some of the most dangerous threats are the least visible.
Chemical and biological agents can silently degrade lung function, trigger inflammatory cascades, and, ultimately, disrupt cognitive performance before detection is even possible. The result is a direct threat to readiness, decision-making, and mission success.
Understanding and countering these threats remains a significant scientific challenge. Traditional approaches, such as animal studies and limited clinical trials, are often slow, costly, and fail to accurately predict how the human body responds to real-world exposures.
In a battlespace defined by speed and uncertainty, the need is clear: faster, more predictive, human-relevant systems that accurately assess risk, anticipate outcomes, and inform protective and therapeutic decisions in real time.
Enter nxtHealth™ mimiq: the “Digital Avatar”.
Imagine a system where we can grow human cells, from lungs, brains, livers, kidneys, and even our guts, inside precisely engineered chips that mimic how organs truly function, interact, and respond to threats.
This is the promise of nxtHealth™ mimiq, an “organ-on-a-chip” technology that my colleagues and I have been advancing with the Air Force Research Laboratory 711th Human Performance Wing for the last several years.
Our team at AV formally introduced nxtHealth mimiq to defense medical researchers, industry stakeholders and most importantly, our warfighters at the Military Health Sciences Research Symposium 2026 last week in Kissimmee, Florida.
What we showed was a solution that the entire defense health organization can use to gain a new data-rich foundation for risk prediction, resource allocation, and strategic intervention.
These organ-on-a-chip systems build on traditional cellular models by combining microfluidics (tiny channels for liquid flow), three dimensionality, advanced sensors, and living human cells into realistic in vitro organ models.
Essentially, the technology mimics an organ and provides an environment where threat exposures can be simulated and observed in real time. More importantly, these systems enable faster, human-relevant insight into how chemical, biological, and environmental threats move across interconnected organ systems, overcoming the limitations of traditional research. By integrating advanced modeling and machine learning, they allow for earlier detection, predictive analysis, and more effective interventions to protect warfighter health, performance, and mission readiness.
Now imagine connecting multiple organ chips together to create a Digital Avatar that models how the human body responds as an integrated system. Researchers can study complex exposures rapidly and safely, without placing people at risk.
Examples of Simulating Organs
A powerful example of our work is in partnership with the Naval Research Laboratory that combines lung, brain, liver, and kidney chips, which enables us to simulate an interconnected human organ system. Researchers introduce chemicals into the system and track how they move through the system to examine any brain cell changes that may be early indicators of cognitive impairment or toxicity.
In this platform, we use microelectrode arrays (MEAs) and imaging to precisely monitor neuronal cellular activity. Importantly, this method generates rich data sets, which sophisticated machine learning algorithms analyze. This enables the rapid detection and prediction of abnormal neural firing patterns caused by exposure, offering a revolutionary “sentience-in-a-dish” capability. This helps us predict human performance impacts before obvious symptoms arise.
We are also developing an “intestine-on-a-chip” in our DARPA-sponsored ADAPTER program to study traveler’s diarrhea, a leading cause of impaired combat readiness. ADAPTER chips host complex microbial communities, faithfully simulating human guts. Pathogens effects and even engineered therapeutics of live bacterial treatments (synbiotics) are tested in the chips to help down-select the best treatment candidates and dosing, including guiding the design of bioelectronic devices for on-demand interventions for deployed soldiers.
Stakeholders in Development
So, who would benefit from our technology development? Our suite of stakeholders includes defense medical researchers, operational planners, regulatory officials, and most importantly, our warfighters. The entire defense health organization gains a new data-rich foundation for risk prediction, resource allocation, and strategic intervention. Pharmaceutical partners, synthetic biology firms, and diagnostic innovators all stand to benefit from the rapid screening capabilities. Our advances will not only protect individuals but also shape the future of operational safety and medical science for the broader armed forces and society as a whole.
Imagine giving warfighters access to a deployable microbial pharmacy capable of responding to harmful exposures in real time. Our technology enables us to model, test, and predict how these countermeasures will perform in the field, ensuring they are effective when they matter most.
Why I Take Pride in This Work
Our ability to combine microfluidics, machine learning, real-world exposure simulation, and multisystem data analytics into a Digital Avatar sets AV apart as a driver of innovation in military medical preparedness. By integrating living tissue models, real-time data acquisition, and predictive computational tools, AV is delivering a comprehensive, responsive solution that today’s complex threat landscape demands. This convergence of multidisciplinary expertise isn’t just a scientific achievement. It’s a direct and powerful answer to some of the most stubborn problems facing defense, readiness, and human health at large, problems I am proud to tackle as a scientist.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An Ohio native, Dr. Rachel Hopton spent over a decade on the West Coast and earned her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Oregon. Her expertise is in intestinal stem cell biology and high-resolution fluorescent microscopy. At AV, she supports the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing studying multicellular gastrointestinal systems. Outside of work, she enjoys outdoor adventures in Southern Ohio with her family.
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