Col. (Ret.) John B. Holcomb, MD, FACS

Dr. Holcomb received his MD degree from the University of Arkansas Medical School in Little Rock in 1985. He entered the US Army and completed his general surgery training in 1991. Dr. Holcomb then deployed with the Joint Special Operations Command for the next decade. He led one of the first Military Civilian Partnerships from 1999 to 2001.

From 2002 to 2008, Dr. Holcomb was the Commander of the US Army Institute of Surgical Research and a trauma consultant for the Army Surgeon General. In that capacity he helped establish the Joint Trauma System. Over the years, he has had multiple combat deployments.

He is a three-time recipient of the Army’s Greatest Invention Award, the “A” Designator in Military Medicine, Order of Military Medical Merit, and Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement Award for Leadership Excellence.

Dr. Holcomb retired from active duty in 2008 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Trauma Resuscitation Science from the American Heart Association and the US Special Operations Command Medal. He has been a member of the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care since 2001. From 2008 to 2019, Dr. Holcomb was a professor of surgery at The University of Texas Health, Houston.

In 2016, he received the Maj. Jonathan Letterman award from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and, in 2022, the Robert Danis Prize from the International Surgical Society. In 2019, Dr. Holcomb joined The University of Alabama at Birmingham, as a professor of surgery. Dr. Holcomb is actively involved in clinical medicine, education, research, and entrepreneurship; he is a founder and board member of a health IT company. He also reviews papers for 44 journals, has published more than 750 peer-reviewed articles, consults with several companies, and serves on multiple boards.