Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Professor John Holcomb, M.D.,FACS, will receive the Danis Prize 2022 at the International Surgical Week (ISW) 2022 in Vienna, Austria.
According to the International Surgical Society, the Robert Danis Prize is awarded to the surgeon who has made the most important and personal contributions to the fields of trauma, burns or critical care.
The award is given to the surgeon, author of the most important and personal work in connection with surgical treatment of fractures (orthopedic treatment excluded) and in connection with techniques, clinics or experimentation of fracture treatment and with the pathophysiology of trauma in general.
Holcomb is widely-respected in the trauma surgery community. He received his M.D. from the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1985. Holcomb entered the U.S. Army in 1985, and completed his general surgery training in 1991. He then deployed with the Joint Special Operations Command for the next decade.
From 2002 to 2008, COL Holcomb was the Commander of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research and Trauma Consultant for the Army Surgeon General. Over the years he has multiple combat deployments. He is a three time recipient of the Army’s Greatest Invention award.
COL Holcomb retired from active duty in 2008 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Trauma Resuscitation Science from the American Heart Association, the United States Special Operations Command Medal, and the Service award from the American College of Surgery. He has been a member of the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care since 2001.
From 2008-2019, Holcomb worked at UT Health, Houston, as a Professor of Surgery. In 2016 he received the MAJ Jonathan Letterman award from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
Holcomb officially joined the UAB Department of Surgery as a professor in 2019. He is actively involved in clinical medicine, education, research, entrepreneurship and is a founder and co-CEO of a health IT company (Decisio Health). He reviews papers for more than 35 journals, has published > 690 peer reviewed articles, consults with several companies and serves on multiple boards.
Director of the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Jeffrey Kerby, M.D., PhD., FACS, notes that Holcomb is extremely deserving of the international recognition.
“Dr. Holcomb has been instrumental in building our division to what it is today as well as the field of trauma and acute care surgery as a whole,” said Kerby. “Many surgeons across the world look to him for methodology and best practices, and he has been paramount to improving trauma patient outcomes.”