Oct. 12, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Foundation today announced a five-year, $250,000 educational grant for a research fellowship and international scholarship to promote the surgical education and research vital to advancing wound care. Both educational opportunities will honor the role of Dr. Louis Argenta of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in developing negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in the early 1990s and his continued contribution to improving the care of surgical patients. Dr. Argenta is an ACS Fellow. The grant was announced today at a symposium at the ACS Clinical Congress.

“Dr. Argenta’s pioneering work created a real opportunity to globally change the standard of care in wound therapy,” said Catherine Burzik, KCI president and CEO. “The people of KCI are privileged to honor his accomplishments with an enduring commitment to research in this important area of medicine.”

Dr. Argenta and his colleague, Dr. Michael Morykwas, both from Wake Forest Baptist’s Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, studied the effect of treating hard-to-heal wounds with sub-atmospheric pressure. They published landmark articles on the studies in 1997, and their work is the foundation of KCI’s signature V.A.C.^® Therapy, which has delivered unparalleled outcomes globally for millions of patients with wounds.

The Dr. Louis Argenta Faculty Research Fellowship will, over a five-year period, annually award a surgeon $40,000 to help establish an independent research program on wound care. The Dr. Louis Argenta ACS International Guest Scholarship focuses on the education of practicing surgeons through the ACS Clinical Congress. The scholarship also offers an $8,000 stipend each year to a surgeon between the ages of 35 and 45 from a country outside North America. The five-year annual award will allow the surgeon to participate in that year’s ACS Clinical Congress and visit a U.S. academic institution for further education in advancing wound care. The international scholarship helps honor the impact of Dr. Argenta’s fellowship in Paris and his membership in the International Society of Surgery.

Remaining grant monies will go toward the ACS’s administration of the scholarship and fellowship.

“I’m deeply honored by this educational grant in my name,” said Argenta. “I’ve spent the better part of my career in education and research with a deep sense of personal fulfillment and professional accomplishment. It’s rewarding to know that my name will be attached to ongoing research and education regarding a discipline as life-changing as wound care.”

About KCI

Kinetic Concepts, Inc.