Inventor of Lifesaving Development in Battlefield Medicine to be Honored by UC

Inventor and medical researcher William Wiesmann, MD, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science at the University of Cincinnati’s Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m., Saturday, June 14, at Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. The honor is the highest award bestowed by the university.

Wiesmann and his military and civilian research teams invented and developed the HemCon® Bandage, which provides a chemically activated seal that stops uncontrolled bleeding.  He co-founded HemCon Medical Technologies, Inc. at the request of the U.S. Army to produce the lifesaving bandage prior to the outbreak of hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Its use on the battlefield is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers. The Bandage earned the ''Top 10 Greatest Inventions'' Award from the U.S. Army for its innovative technology and impact on Army capabilities. First responders are now using the bandage to treat civilian trauma hemorrhage cases.

His pursuit of lifesaving advances in medicine began at the University of Cincinnati, where he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) in 1968, before achieving his medical degree from the Washington University School of Medicine in 1972. Following internship and residency at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, he completed fellowships in medicine, nephrology and medical research at Washington University and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.  In 1978 he became a medical researcher for the U.S. Army at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., rising to research director for combat casualty at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Ft. Detrick, Maryland. The development of the HemCon® Bandage was completed after he retired with the military rank of Colonel.

Wiesmann is founder, president and CEO of the BioSTAR Group, based in Germantown, Md. – a collective of companies specializing in lifesaving advances in equipment and technologies. He holds more than 30 awarded or pending patents. He has directed multi-million dollar programs for NASA and for the Department of Defense. His numerous awards include the U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal, the U.S. Army R&D Achievement Award and the U.S. Army Commendation Medal.

He is also president and CEO of Hawaii Chitopure, Inc., a company that is developing new anti-microbial materials that destroy drug resistant bacteria; president and medical director of Sekos, Inc., a medical device company; and CEO of BioSTAR West, a research and development company.  In addition, he is the senior consultant for advanced technology at the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology at Massachusetts General Hospital; senior consultant and principal investigator for the U.S. Military Space Test Program; principal investigator, advanced life support systems, for the U.S. Army and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and senior medical advisor to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Advanced Prosthetic of the Future program.  He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Harvey Mudd College, is chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Tissue Engineering Center, is a member of the external advisory board for the UC Department of Biomedical Engineering, the National Council of the Washington University School of Medicine and the Board of Councilors for the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, and is Chairman of the Board of HemCon, Inc. in Portland, Oregon.

Wiesmann and his wife, Sandra, reside in Washington, D.C.

UC to Award Four Honorary Doctorates and an Award for Excellence at All-University Commencement

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