Colonel Craig D. Shriver
Individual Letterman Award Winner, 2012
Known for his wartime vision and practices, Colonel Shriver devised an innovative method of closing severe abdominal wounds that eventually enabled more than 85% of patients to leave the hospital with closed abdomens. Many of these patients returned to duty and deployed again. The technique is applicable to all patients with open abdomens and translates to civilian practice as well. In an unprecedented surgery, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the University of Miami collaborated and Colonel Shriver performed the first pancreas islet cell transplant.
Colonel Shriver also developed a system of support for returning wounded warriors. His overarching goal was to tap the leadership and wisdom of trauma surgeons to create a unique, modern platform for the comprehensive care of injured patients. His hybrid care-giving model employs staff surgeons, midlevel care providers, and residents who provide optimal treatment to soldiers and their families and bolster knowledge of the resident education community. The endeavor is a model for modern wartime stateside care.
Colonel Craig D. Shriver serves as the Interim Director, Cancer Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center/Joint Task Force (WRNMMC/JTF); Chief, General Surgery Service, WRNMMC/JTF; Program Director, NCC General Surgery; Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU); and Director and Principal Investigator, Clinical Breast Care Project, WRNMMC/JTF.
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