Kevin Ward, MD
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About
Dr. Ward is a Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He received his B.S. in Physiology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1985 and his degree in medicine from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA in 1989. Dr. Ward then completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh followed by a Resuscitation Research fellowship at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in 2012, Dr. Ward was Professor and Associate Chair of Emergency Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) were he also founded and directed the VCU Reanimation Engineering Science Center (VCURES).
Dr. Ward’s research interests span the field of critical illness and injury ranging from combat casualty care to the intensive care unit. His approach is to develop and leverage broad platform technologies capable of use throughout all echelons of care of the critically ill and injured as well as in all age groups. Dr. Ward’s work has been funded by the NIH, Department of Defense, NSF, and industry. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is the recipient of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine’s Excellence in Research Award as well as the American College of Emergency Physicians Outstanding Contributions in Research Award.
Dr. Ward’s passion is in creating programs which encourage true integration across the disciplines of medicine, engineering, data sciences, and entrepreneurship that accelerate discovery to true patient impact. In addition to founding the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation(link is external)(link is external), he led the design and implementation of Michigan Medicine’s Fast Forward Medical Innovation(link is external)(link is external) (FFMI) program and served as its inaugural Executive Director from 2013-2018. He is a serial innovator and entrepreneur in the field of emergency and critical care medicine and the recipient of Innovation and Commercialization awards from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Michigan Medical School, and the Department of Defense.
In collaboration with the U.S. Army and its Joint Special Operations Training Medical Center, Dr. Ward developed and medically directed special training programs, which have been responsible for providing clinical training to over 1000 Special Operation Combat Medics. For this work, Dr. Ward was awarded a Certificate for Patriotic Civilian Service by the Department of the Army and the Joint Special Operations Training Center. Dr. Ward also served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and its 948th Forward Resuscitation Surgical Team deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
Serving on numerous editorial and review boards in the field of resuscitation, emergency and critical care medicine, Dr. Ward also serves on the executive committee for the Trauma Hemostasis and Oxygenation Research (link is external) (link is external) (THOR).
Administrative Contact:
Denise Wieck
[email protected]
Center Memberships
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Center MemberCenter for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
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Center MemberWeil Institute for Critical Care Research
Recent Publications
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Vieni C, Iftekharuddin A, Ward K, Pittman R, Norgan AP, Neal MD, Triulzi D, Spinella P, Sperry J, Yazer M, Seheult J. 2026 Jul 8;PreprintA stochastic, physiology-based digital twin model of hemostasis and oxygenation in trauma resuscitation.
DOI:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10273801/v1 PMID: 42466392 -
Levy MJ, OByrne H, Bank EA, Cannon JW, Cap AP, Glassberg E, Holcomb JB, Jenkins DH, Leeper C, Sherwood MR, Ward KR, Yazer MH, Spinella PC. Transfusion, 2026 May 1; 66 (S1): S5 - S14.Journal ArticleThe THOR network best practices for females of childbearing potential with life-threatening hemorrhage: Guidance for emergency medical services and hospitals
DOI:10.1111/trf.70119 PMID: 41795164 -
Flanagan CL, Yantz J, Reichbart I, Melnik P, Nourmohammadi Z, Zopf DA, Ward K, Mycek MA. Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging Proceedings of SPIE, 2026 Mar 5; 13828:Proceeding / Abstract / PosterTissue phantoms for photobiomodulation therapy for traumatic brain injury
DOI:10.1117/12.3080770 -
Wittrup E, Kay A, Lombard E, Rosen J, Schnathorst E, Geng C, Ma H, Stein EB, Ward KR, Williamson C, Najarian K. International Journal of Biomedical Imaging, 2026 Jan 1; 2026 (1):Journal ArticleAutomated Semisupervised Measurement of Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter From CT Following Traumatic Brain Injury
DOI:10.1155/ijbi/9929121 -
Cummings B, Tiba H, Ehrmann DE, Ward K. 2025 Dec 4;PatentSystem And Method For Assessing Hypotensive Risk Using Machine Learning Models To Analyze Health Data And Output A Hypotensive Risk Index
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Carmichael AG, Walter D, Labbree BP, Dogari B, Leonard N, Ward K, Geng X, Raju M, Francis-Levin J, Gonzalez R. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 2025 Nov 3; 9 (1):Journal ArticleExtending participant feedback beyond clinical studies: A modular system designed to connect researchers and participants
DOI:10.1017/cts.2025.10184 -
Tiba MH, Sharpe Z, Greer N, Davis A, Dennis C, Picton P, Rajajee V, Ward K, Rubin J, Fowlkes J. Journal of Neurotrauma, 2025 Jul 24;Journal ArticleAssessment of Cerebral Autoregulation using Ultrasound-based Intra- and Extracranial Blood Flow Indices in a Swine model of Brain injury
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Schmitzberger F, Patterson J, Thrower M, Piet M, Green K, Micheller D, Ward K, Bryan RT. 2025 Aug 5;Proceeding / Abstract / PosterEvaluation of Implementation and Barriers to Damage Control Resuscitation in Ukraine
Featured News & Stories
Weil Institute launches fourth annual Kahn Pediatric Critical Care Grand Challenge
Weil Institute executive director traveled to Israel to review military's use of blood products in combat casualty care
Weil Institute leaders consult on new pediatric critical care research center at Northwestern University
The Weil Institute and the University of Utah: Reimagining a Grand Challenge
Weil Institute’s “PICTURE” is licensed to U-M startup PreSense Health