Michael J. Morykwas, Ph. D.
By Nathan O. Hatch
February 19, 2015
Today, we celebrate an individual committed to honoring our tradition of Pro Humanitate while being radically innovative in his individual career and life as well as in his collaborative work. I am pleased to recognize Dr. Michael Morykwas, professor of surgical sciences – plastic and reconstructive surgery, as a 2015 Medallion of Merit recipient.
In 1988, the gifted Dr. Morykwas, was invited to Wake Forest to expand the research laboratory of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The 179-square-foot space with one technician grew to a 8,500-square-foot foot facility that houses 25 researchers. It has become one of the pre-eminent labs in the field of plastic surgery, where multidisciplinary, transitional innovation is encouraged, supported and nurtured.
After Dr. Morykwas and Dr. Louis Argenta built the lab, the two scientists developed the Vacuum Assisted Closure wound healing technology which was licensed to Kinetic Concepts, Inc. This technology, hailed as one of the most important advancements in wound healing in the past 25 years, has been used to treat more than 10 million patients worldwide, including nearly all extremity injuries suffered by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. The royalties from their technology has routinely placed Wake Forest among the top royalty-generating universities in the country.
Dr. Morykwas is internationally recognized as one of the leading experts on the effects of mechanical transduction on wound healing. His current research projects have expanded the use of the application of a controlled vacuum for treatment of traumatic brain injuries and stroke, and a variety of heart conditions including heart attacks.
He has consulted for the General and Plastic Surgery Devices Advisory Panel of the US FDA, served on the Library and Learning Resource Committee at the Medical School, is a member of numerous professional societies and remains active in teaching graduate students.
In gratitude for his decades of creativity and passion as an innovative pioneer, his commitment to pursuing life-changing advances in his profession, his unflagging dedication to research, education and creative collaboration and his lifelong commitment to the spirit of Pro Humanitate, Wake Forest University confers its highest honor, the Medallion of Merit, upon Dr. Michael J. Morykwas, on this Nineteenth day of February, Two Thousand Fifteen.