Penn on the Frontlines: Lessons from Trauma Care on the Ukraine Battlefront

On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, join Perry World House and the Wyss Medical Foundation for an urgent conversation with military trauma surgeons and strategic experts working to save lives on the frontlines of this war.

Drawing on firsthand experience from Ukraine’s battlefields, these experts will discuss trauma care as critical medical response—but also as a strategic imperative that can shape military outcomes. They will unpack how battlefield medicine can drive operational success, strengthen deterrence, and even serve as a form of soft power and diplomacy.

Looking to the future, they will ask what policy reforms are needed to translate the lessons learned in Ukraine into long-term preparedness—ensuring that conflict and mass casualty events are met with the speed and precision needed to save lives at home and abroad.

Panelists

Col. Jennifer M. Gurney, MD, FACS, MC, USA is Chief of the Joint Trauma System (JTS) within the Defense Health Agency and a seasoned trauma surgeon with extensive experience in combat casualty care and trauma system optimization. She has served with JTS since 2012 and deployed multiple times, including as Theater Trauma Director for Operation Inherent Resolve. Her leadership spans performance improvement initiatives, trauma readiness metrics, and global system assessments that have influenced both military and civilian care standards. Under her guidance, evidence‑based practice—such as whole blood use in prehospital settings—has shaped care protocols widely in both combat and civilian trauma systems.

Stephen J. Kovach, III, MD, FACS is the Herndon B. Lehr, M.D. Endowed Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Penn Medicine and Co‑Director of the Penn Orthoplastic Limb Salvage Center. A microsurgical and reconstructive expert, he treats complex soft‑tissue and extremity trauma and directs advanced reconstructive education. Dr. Kovach has played a key role in Penn’s Ukraine initiatives, including hands‑on training and virtual consultations with Ukrainian surgeons treating war‑related blast and extremity injuries, strengthening global surgical capacity and trauma care collaboration.

Dr. Benjamin "Kyle" Potter, MD, FACS is Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at Penn Medicine and a nationally recognized expert in combat casualty care, complex extremity trauma and advanced limb reconstruction and amputation techniques. A retired U.S. Army Colonel and former Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed and Chair of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University, he played a central role in advancing military trauma care and military–civilian partnerships. Dr. Potter continues to train, advise and assist in the surgical care for wounded Ukrainian service members, global health engagements, and national trauma system preparedness.

Vasyl Strilka, MD is Director of the Department of High‑Tech Medical Care and Innovations at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. He earned his medical degree from O.O. Bohomolets National Medical University (2012) and an MA in Public Policy and Governance from Kyiv School of Economics (2020). He has worked at the Ministry since 2017 and has led national initiatives since 2020. Together with his team, he launched Ukraine’s organ and bone marrow transplantation system and continues to scale high‑complexity care during wartime. His current work focuses on strengthening trauma and recovery pathways, including prehospital blood transfusion, targeted medical evacuation, rehabilitation, pain management, and burn care.

Moderator

Gina Kolata is a medical writer for the New York Times. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist twice, has written seven books, and has lectured at medical schools and universities. She has a masters degree in applied mathematics from the University of Maryland and studied molecular biology for a year and a half at MIT.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Perry World House