Leidos to back Naval Health Research Center studies to boost US service members’ health and readiness

RESTON, Va., August 25, 2026 — Leidos was awarded a contract by the Naval Health Research Center to provide behavioral health research, operational assessments, and data-driven analyses aimed at strengthening the psychological health and operational readiness of U.S. service members.

The effort will concentrate on pinpointing risk and protective factors and interventions that influence health, performance, and readiness across the deployment cycle, while developing evidence-based strategies to bolster resilience, support informed decision-making, and reduce adverse outcomes. Leidos said it will draw on more than five decades of research support to help NHRC translate scientific findings into practical solutions to improve force readiness and optimize performance within the military.

“This program reinforces the need for mission-critical health research in the military community,” said Sarah McNichol, vice president of Behavioral Health & Readiness at Leidos Health. “It is vitally important we work to improve warfighter readiness by studying the various psychological factors that can impact military populations.”

NHRC is one of eight laboratories within the Navy Medical Research & Development Enterprise charged with optimizing the operational readiness and health of U.S. armed forces through behavioral health, epidemiology, readiness, and disease surveillance.

The contract is valued at $56 million over a 66-month period of performance.

Leidos noted the announcement includes forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties and said it does not undertake to update such statements.