Kevin Ward, MD

Kevin R. Ward
Director
Weil Institute
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Medical School
[email protected]
Available to mentor
Kevin Ward, MD
Kevin R. Ward
Professor
  • About
  • Center Memberships
  • Recent Publications
  • Manage Your Profile

  • 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

    • Center Member
      Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
    • Center Member
      Weil Institute for Critical Care Research

    Recent Publications

    See All Publications
    • Proceeding / Abstract / Poster
      Tissue phantoms for photobiomodulation therapy for traumatic brain injury
      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: DOI:10.1117/12.3080770
    • Journal Article
      The THOR network best practices for females of childbearing potential with life-threatening hemorrhage: Guidance for emergency medical services and hospitals
      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 Jan 1; DOI:10.1111/trf.70119
    • Patent
      System And Method For Assessing Hypotensive Risk Using Machine Learning Models To Analyze Health Data And Output A Hypotensive Risk Index
      Cummings B, Tiba H, Ehrmann DE, Ward K. 2025 Dec 4;
    • Journal Article
      Extending participant feedback beyond clinical studies: A modular system designed to connect researchers and participants
      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): DOI:10.1017/cts.2025.10184
    • Proceeding / Abstract / Poster
      Evaluation of Implementation and Barriers to Damage Control Resuscitation in Ukraine
      Schmitzberger F, Patterson J, Thrower M, Piet M, Green K, Micheller D, Ward K, Bryan RT. 2025 Aug 5;
    • Journal Article
      21 Optimizing AI-physician collaboration for enhanced diagnostic accuracy: A case study on acute respiratory distress syndrome detection using chest X-ray imaging
      Farzaneh N, Ansari S, Lee E, Ward KR, Sjoding MW. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 2025 Mar 28; 9 (s1): 7 - 8. DOI:10.1017/cts.2024.712
      PMID: PMC12038501
    • Journal Article
      Traumatic Tension Pneumothorax: A Tale of Two Pathologies.
      Thompson P, Johannigman J, Hudson AJ, Irvine-Smith T, Reis N, Horbowyj R, Fagereng K, Ward KR, De Pasquale M, Salte R, Bjerkvig C, Rognhaug M, Svanevik M, Eliassen HS, Magnusson S, Hellander S, Enbuske S, Stroberg P, Larsson M, Funk CBR, Pannell D, Schmid JH, Vallee I, Vergie I, Taylor AJ, Toole J, Glasberg E, Almog O, Vasquez PF, Valdez G, Oh AS, Moore CH, Barbour BM, Isaacs RC, Perez LA, Hardin RD, Killian B, Bridwell RE, Harrison MB, Gurney JM, Strandenes G, Braverman MA. J Spec Oper Med, 2025 Apr 30; 24 (4): 57 - 64. DOI:10.55460/1VTP-4L4K
      PMID: 39688900
    • Journal Article
      Use of a continuous single lead electrocardiogram analytic to predict patient deterioration requiring rapid response team activation.
      Lee S, Benson B, Belle A, Medlin RP, Jerkins D, Goss F, Khanna AK, DeVita MA, Ward KR. PLOS Digit Health, 2024 Oct; 3 (10): e0000465 DOI:10.1371/journal.pdig.0000465
      PMID: PMC11500862

    Featured News & Stories

    Crowd shot of attendees at the 2026 Kahn Grand Challenge kickoff listening to a presentation by Dr. Heidi Flori.
    Research News

    Weil Institute launches fourth annual Kahn Pediatric Critical Care Grand Challenge

    More than 17 disciplines from across U-M gathered to tackle solutions for critically ill and injured children.
    Dr. Kevin Ward and members of THOR aboard an armored personnel carrier.
    Research News

    Weil Institute executive director traveled to Israel to review military's use of blood products in combat casualty care

    A multinational team of trauma experts including Weil Institute executive director Dr. Kevin Ward traveled to Israel to review how their military had been using blood products far forward in the treatment of casualties.
    Dr. Rodney Daniels participates in a panel discussion focused on innovation in pediatric critical care during PACCRI's October 6 kickoff symposium.
    Research News

    Weil Institute leaders consult on new pediatric critical care research center at Northwestern University

    Shared expertise inspires new hope for young patients following the opening of the Lurie Children’s Center for Pediatric Acute and Critical Care Research and Innovation.
    The logos for High Tech West and the Massey Grand Challenge superimposed over images of an aircraft and MRI scans, respectively.
    Research News

    The Weil Institute and the University of Utah: Reimagining a Grand Challenge

    Inspired by Weil’s Massey TBI Grand Challenge, the University of Utah’s High Tech West program is accelerating novel solutions across medicine, aerospace and national security.
    A clinician tends to a patient in a hospital bed. The image is overlaid with a graphical rendering of data.
    Research News

    Weil Institute’s “PICTURE” is licensed to U-M startup PreSense Health

    The analytic will help healthcare systems across the globe predict patient deterioration hours in advance.
    Hospital room with two beds
    Research News

    Weil Institute team awarded $3.4 million to optimize ICU triage of patients with acute heart and lung diseases

    U-M researchers are developing data tools that could help doctors more accurately determine which Emergency Department patients should be admitted to the ICU and when.