As Knight Aerospace’s Chief Medical Officer, Col. Jay Johannigman, M.D., F.A.C.S. oversees a multitude of Knight’s technological advancements that allow quick conversion of military and NGO cargo aircraft into full-spectrum, “flying emergency rooms.” He is also responsible for the implementation of the protocols and technology behind our self-contained units which safely transport high-contagious patients, such as those with COVID-19. Additionally, Dr. Johannigman supervises the ongoing development of cutting-edge technology at Knight. We are honored that Dr. Johannigman has been on the team since November 2020. He is currently deployed to the office COMRS at NATO headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Dr. Johannigman remains actively dedicated to the medical field and mentoring future physicians in addition to his role at Knight Aerospace. Since 2019, Dr. Johannigman has continued to serve as a trauma surgeon at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, and he serves as an adjunct professor at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine.
Dr. Johannigman was a resident surgeon for 25 years with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and served as the Director of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery at the University Hospital in Cincinnati. Additionally, he was the Director of the Institute of Military Medicine at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
His leadership and commitment to the medical field are evident in the leadership role he took in developing West Chester Hospital and overseeing its ability to become a Level III Trauma Center. He then went on to serve various director positions at West Chester hospital, including Director of the Surgical Critical Care Service as well as Associate Director of the hospital’s Trauma Service.
In addition to his civilian surgical experience and academic roles, Dr. Johannigman served in the United States Air Force (USAF) for nearly four decades and continues to hold his rating as a flight surgeon. He served on seven deployments as a military trauma surgeon and earned numerous accolades, including the Distinguished Service Award from the Military Health System Research Symposium. During this time, he achieved the rank of colonel.
During active duty at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Dr. Johannigman played a pivotal role in the pioneering of the USAF’s Critical Care Aeromedical Transport Team (CCATT). For the following three decades, his involvement in the Critical Care Aeromedical transport has not waned, including his participation in the development of the United States Air Force Centers for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (CSTARS) which has been in use as the training center for every USAF CCATT team for more than 20 years.
Dr. Johannigman continues to actively practice surgical medicine. His primary disciplines include surgical critical care, trauma, emergency general surgery, and elective general surgery. He is devoted to research and is widely published. Dr. Johannigman’s core research interests include controlled loop ventilation, pulmonary failure, and critical care monitoring. His work appears in more than one-hundred peer-reviewed medical journals, 18 books, and 100 abstracts.
Dr. Johannigman continues to find time to pursue his hobby and passion for cycling, traversing thousands of miles on his bike annually.