Jay Johannigman
Combat and trauma surgeon Jay Johannigman, M.D. has four decades of experience across military and civilian healthcare. After a 46-year career in military medicine, he retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a colonel in 2025 and returned home to Cincinnati, where he now works to strengthen the region’s emergency preparedness and injury care. Among his many honors, Dr. Johannigman received the Barry Goldwater Service Award from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), an organization that prepares the military community and its healthcare institutions for the demands of warfare.
My Story
Today, Dr. Johannigman serves as Chief Medical Officer at Knight Aerospace, a leading innovator in advanced aeromedical transportation, where he helps design and implement airborne medical evacuation systems. He also holds an academic appointment as Professor of Surgery at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University. His current focus in Cincinnati is local and forward-looking, including a geriatric injury prevention program aimed at reducing falls among older adults and efforts to help area hospitals and first responders prepare for large-scale emergencies.
Dr. Johannigman began his medical career shortly after receiving his MD from Case Western Reserve University. Already commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant for the USAF Reserves, he returned to active duty as a staff surgeon and medical director of the Surgical Critical Care Service at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center after finishing his postdoctoral training.
Upon completing his active duty service obligation, Dr. Johannigman served as Director of the Institute of Military Medicine at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He was also Director of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery at University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 2001 to 2017. Throughout these years, he remained active in both military and civilian medicine. Dr. Johannigman was a founding leader in establishing the Cincinnati Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (Cincinnati CSTARS). Established in 2001 and still operating today, Cincinnati CSTARS was one of the first five Military-Civilian Strategic Partnerships in the United States.
Over the following two decades, he split his time between academic appointments, military roles, and professional positions at civilian hospitals. He deployed to the combat theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan on seven occasions, translating the lessons learned at war into better care for civilian trauma centers across the United States and at his home institution.
Dr. Johannigman has served in trauma leadership positions at the local, state, and national levels, including as State Chair for the Ohio Committee on Trauma and Region Chief for the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.
Dr. Johannigman’s military experience extends beyond the classroom, with distinguished service as a consultant to the Office of the Surgeon of the Air Force and as a founding member of the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care. His commitment to the medical community is evident through active membership in numerous professional organizations and a prolific research record. With nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications spanning mechanical ventilation, en route care, resuscitation, and whole blood utilization, Dr. Johannigman has established a strong reputation for excellence in both basic science and clinical research.