Accepting nominations for local innovators for the 2026 awards until March 22, 2026.
Registration is closed.
2025 PRESENTING SPONSORS
Honoring Leaders of Healthcare Innovation
The BioMedSA Awards for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience celebrate local and national innovators in the healthcare and bioscience industry, including patient care, education, research and development, leadership, public policy and medical technology. Each year, the selection committee will determine the awards to be given from the following categories:
- Research Innovation Award – This award recognizes a pioneering researcher whose innovations in bioscience have made a significant impact on human health.
- Clinical Innovation Award – This award celebrates an innovative clinician whose creativity, vision and programs have transformed patient care, advanced healthcare practice, and/or health policy.
- Entrepreneur Award –This award honors an innovative entrepreneur whose business has advanced healthcare while driving local economic growth through job creation.
- Lifetime Achievement Award – This award honors a visionary leader whose lifetime of innovation in healthcare and bioscience has profoundly advanced human health and strengthened the local economy.
Event Details
September 23, 2026
5:30 – 7:00pm
Networking / Cocktails
7:00 – 8:30pm
Dinner & Award Presentation
8:30 – 9:00pm
Networking
Members: $200/person
Non-Members: $250/person
The San Antonio Grand Ballroom at La Cantera
16641 La Cantera Parkway
San Antonio, TX 78256
2026 Innovation Award Remarks
San Antonio Medical Foundation
UT Health San Antonio
2026 BioMedSA Entrepreneur Award Honoree
2026 BioMedSA Entrepreneur Award
James R. Leininger, M.D.
Dr. James R. “Jim” Leininger is a physician‑innovator whose pioneering work transformed modern wound care and built a large medical device company in San Antonio. After identifying critical gaps in patient care as an emergency room physician, he founded Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI) in 1976 and went on to develop breakthrough solutions—including Vacuum‑Assisted Closure (V.A.C.) therapy—that redefined how complex wounds are treated globally.
Under his leadership, KCI grew from a startup into a multibillion‑dollar enterprise and helped establish San Antonio as a national hub for medical innovation. Beyond his company’s success, Dr. Leininger’s impact spans decades of investment in healthcare innovation, workforce development, and entrepreneurial growth.
Driven by a commitment to solving real patient needs, his legacy reflects both scientific advancement and lasting economic and community impact—improving the practice of medicine while impacting the economic growth of San Antonio’s life science sector.
2026 BioMedSA Research Innovation Honoree
2026 BioMedSA Innovative Researcher Award
Robert A. Clark, M.D.
Dr. Robert “Bob” Clark is a pioneering biomedical researcher whose discoveries have reshaped the understanding of immune response and advanced new treatments for complex diseases. His work has led to breakthroughs in inflammation and rare immune disorders, while more recently driving promising new therapies for Parkinson’s disease—including a drug in clinical trials and an innovative gene‑therapy approach with the potential to slow or prevent progression.
As a leader in translational science, Dr. Clark has played a central role in turning research into real‑world treatments. Through decades of federally funded work and his leadership of San Antonio’s Clinical and Translational Science Award program, he has accelerated clinical research, expanded access to cutting‑edge therapies, and strengthened the region’s biomedical workforce.
Known equally for his scientific impact and his dedication to mentorship, Dr. Clark has helped cultivate the next generation of researchers and innovators. His legacy reflects a career defined by discovery, collaboration, and a lasting commitment to improving patient care and advancing the future of medicine.
2026 BioMedSA Clinical Innovation Award Honoree
To Be Announced Soon
2026 BioMedSA Inovative Clinical Care Award
Donald H. Jenkins, M.D., FACS
Dr. Donald H. Jenkins is a nationally recognized trauma surgeon whose innovations have transformed emergency care and saved countless lives. A retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and clinical leader at UT Health San Antonio, he pioneered the widely adopted “San Antonio Model” for whole blood delivery—an innovative system that ensures life‑saving transfusions can begin in the field, often before patients reach the hospital.
By creating a sustainable blood rotation process and uniting military, civilian, and regional partners, Dr. Jenkins helped dramatically improve survival rates for trauma patients, particularly in critical moments when seconds matter most. His work has scaled nationwide and is now used in emergencies ranging from mass‑casualty events to maternal care.
Bridging military and civilian medicine, Dr. Jenkins’ leadership has redefined trauma systems, establishing new standards for rapid, coordinated care and leaving a lasting impact on how lifesaving treatment is delivered across the country.
2026 Sponsors
Presenting Sponsors
Diamond Sponsors
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Corporate Sponsors
Dr. Sunil Ahuja
Recipients
- 2026 – Jim Leininger, M.D., Entrepreneur Award
- Other Honorees To Be Announced Soon
- 2025 – Larry Schlesinger, M.D., infectious disease researcher and organizational leader
- 2024 – Jason McLellan , Ph.D., structural biologist
- 2023 – Sunil Ahuja, M.D., infectious disease and immune system researcher
- 2021/2 – Robert Ward, Ph.D., serial biomaterials inventor and entrepreneur
- 2020 – Rena Bizios, Ph.D., research in cell-material interactions and biomedical engineering pioneer
- 2019 – Stephen Badylak, D.V.M., Ph.D., M.D., discovered the use of the extracellular matrix
- 2018 – Alan Peterson, Ph.D., ABPP, research leader in combat-related PTSD
- 2017 – Leonard Pinchuk, Ph.D., D.Sc. prolific biomaterials scientist and inventor
- 2016 – George E. Peoples, Jr., M.D., FACS, cancer immunotherapy pioneer
- 2015 – W.E. (William Esco) Moerner, Ph.D., Nobel Prize-winning chemist
- 2014 – Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., nationally-renowned pediatric transplant surgeon
- 2013 – Robert S. Langer, Sc.D., world-renowned engineer, inventor and entrepreneur in tissue engineering and biomaterials
- 2012 – Larry Miller, M.D., pioneer of leading intraosseous vascular access technology
- 2011 – Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D., biologist and inventor of numerous scientific instruments
- 2010 – C. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D., founded biomedical engineering degree program at UTSA
- 2009 – Dean Kamen, internationally acclaimed inventor and founder of DEKA and FIRST
- 2008 – Robert Campbell, M.D., Melvin Smith, M.D., and Kaye Wilkins, M.D., pediatric orthopedic inventors
- 2007 – Karen Davis, Ph.D., children’s health assessment program
- 2006 – Julio Palmaz, M.D., inventor of the first commercially successful intravascular stent
Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2025 – George Hernandez, J.D., public health leadership
- 2023 – William Henrich, M.D., medical, institutional and community leadership
- 2018 – Basil A. Pruitt, Jr. M.D., one of the founding fathers of modern trauma and burn medicine
