LECOM Alumna Named United States Defense Health Agency Director

Lt. Col. Alice Briones, DO

LECOM Alumna Named United States Defense Health Agency Director

Lt. Col. Alice Briones, DO, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) Deputy Director, has been named Director of AFMES, making Dr. Briones the first female to serve as Director of the System.

The 2005 Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) graduate was appointed by Defense Health Agency Director, United States Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place to serve in her new position. She is advancing from her former post as Deputy Director of AFMES, an assignment that she held since April 2017.

“Dr. Briones brings a tremendous level of experience and capability to AFMES,” affirmed Lt. Gen. Ronald Place. “She has done an outstanding job serving as Deputy Director and I look forward to her continued leadership in the role as Director. AFMES does so much to positively impact our nation,” the Lieutenant General added.

As Director of AFMES, Dr. Briones now leads an assemblage of approximately 300 military, civilian, and contractor personnel who provide comprehensive services in forensic pathology, forensic toxicology, DNA technology, identification, and mortality surveillance to the Department of Defense.

“It is an honor to be selected as the new Director of AFMES; there is no greater place to work than beside the men and women of AFMES,” stated Dr. Briones.

In 1990, Dr. Briones enlisted in the United States Army, serving as a Combat Medic. She completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. In 1994, she earned the Bachelor of Arts in Clinical Laboratory Medicine from the University of Maine. She also earned a Medical Technologist Certification. In 1995, Dr. Briones was commissioned in the United States Air Force as a Biomedical Sciences Corps Laboratory Officer.

Throughout her career, she has served in many roles, notably Chief of Laboratory Operations and Squadron Section Commander at Luke Air Force Base (AFB), Arizona, and Chief of Laboratory Operations at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts.

“I hope to be an inspiration to all women in the military, science, and medical fields as well as to working mothers,” Dr. Briones remarked.

Dr. Briones received the Health Profession Scholarship from the Air Force and she attended LECOM in Erie, Pennsylvania where she was graduated in 2005 with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree. Dr. Briones undertook her residency in Clinical and Anatomic Pathology at the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, and she completed a Forensic Pathology Fellowship with the Office of the Medical Examiner in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2010.

Following her residency and fellowship, Dr. Briones served AFMES as Deputy Medical Examiner in Rockville, Maryland and Dover AFB, Delaware, and she was appointed Director of the Department of Defense DNA Registry in 2014.

“I look forward to leading this great organization into the future and to exceeding the standard in forensic sciences for our greatest stakeholders – the families,” avowed Dr. Briones.

LECOM, as heirs of a glorious past and a heritage of inestimable value, commits itself to transmitting the Lamp of Learning to future generations; to support through its educational bounty, the opportunities that change people, and people who change lives. United States Air Force Lt. Col. Alice Briones, DO, is one such person, and one of whom LECOM is unequivocally proud.