Academy of Wound Healing in Oxford (UK) and University of Providence in Montana (USA) offer a 1-year postgraduate degree M.Sc. in Wound Healing.
BRIEF HISTORY
OF
ACADEMY OF WOUND HEALING
Prof. Dr.(med.) Peter Geissler, MD, PhD, MPhil (Cantab)
9 Saint Michael’s Street, Oxford OX1 2RR (UK)
Academy of Wound Healing is located at the heart of the ancient city of learning at 9 Saint Michael’s Street, Oxford OX1 2RR on property leased from the University of Oxford.
The M.Sc. in Wound Healing degree offered by the Academy of Wound Healing in Oxford in affiliation with University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana, is a continuation of the legacy of Dr. George Cherry who worked for a substantial part of his distinguished career at the Department of Dermatology in Oxford and made significant contributions to the development of wound care internationally.
The Academy of Wound Healing in Oxford traces its origin to a collaboration of two pioneers in the field of wound healing, Dr. Peter Geissler (to a lesser extent) and Dr. George Cherry (to a greater extent).
In 1974 Dr. Peter Geissler received his PhD in physiology from Yale University for research on physiology of the eye, including bloodless wound healing of the corneal epithelium.
In 1994, Dr. Geissler came to Oxford as an ISISE Fellow at University of Oxford whilst in residence at Manchester College, Oxford, (later renamed Harris Manchester College) where he studied human anatomy and neuroanatomy.
In 1995, Dr. Geissler was awarded the M.D. degree from Grace University School of Medicine in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The degree was validated by the General Medical Council (GMC) in the United Kingdom.
In 1996, Dr. George Cherry established the Oxford Wound Healing Institute within the Department of Dermatology at Churchill Hospital, Oxford. In that year, Dr. George Cherry established the Oxford International Wound Healing Foundation which ran the popular Oxford Wound Healing Summer School from 1996 to 2008.
In 1996, Dr. Geissler attended the Oxford Wound Healing Summer School and started a life-long collaboration with Dr. George Cherry.
From 1996 to 1997, Dr. Geissler was a postgraduate student in the Department of Anatomy at University of Cambridge and at Wolfson College, Cambridge. In 1997, Dr. Geissler was awarded the MPhil (Cantab) degree in anatomy (by research). Dr. Geissler went on to study medical microbiology at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in preparation for academic appointments as Director of the Cambridge Overseas Medical Training Programme and Acting Dean of Kigezi International School of Medicine in Kabale, Uganda. Throughout this period, Dr. Geissler collaborated with Dr. George Cherry and Professor Keith Harding regarding on-going research on the role of inflammatory medicators in wound healing, especially in relation to wound healing in Africa.
From 1996 to 1999, Dr. Geissler also attended the Oxford School of Chiropodists and Podiatry located at 6 Wesley Lane, Bicester, OX26 6JU, Oxfordshire. Examinations were administered by the Institute of Chiropodists & Podiatrists for and on behalf of the Oxford School of Chiropodists and Podiatry. The Oxford School of Chiropodists and Podiatry eventually closed its doors and academic records were lost. Accordingly, The Oxford School of Chiropodists and Podiatry is not recognized for licensure by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the podiatry licensing authority in the United Kingdom.
In 1999, Dr. Geor\ge Cherry and Professor Keith Harding, Director of the Wound Healing Research Unit, University Department of Surgery, Cardiff Centre, Health Park, Cardiff (UK) incorporated The Wound Healing Institute in the UK.
In 1999, Dr. Kel Cohen and Dr. Robert Bob Diegelmann established a comparable institution (Wound Healing Foundation) in USA. The Wound Healing Foundation is a public 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving wound healing worldwide through funding research, education, and outreach. The Foundation was formed by dedicated professionals committed to wound care and to provide patients, researchers, and health professionals the resources to make significant contributions in the critical and under-appreciated area of wound healing. (Ref: LINK: https://woundhealingfoundation.org/About.cgi)
On April 6, 2001, Dr. George Cherry incorporated The Oxford International Wound Foundation. The corporate office was located at 7th Floor, Beaufort House 15 St Botolph Street, London, EC3A 7NJ, UK.
In 2002, Dr. George Cherry incorporated the Wound Healing Foundation. The corporate office was located at the Department of Dermatology, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LJ, UK.
In 2002, the Wound Healing Foundation published The First Oxford European Wound Healing Course Handbook (2002) published by Positif Press (Ref: ISBN 0 906894301).
In 2008, the annual wound healing summer school was renamed the Oxford European Wound Healing Course. Occasionally, a course handbook was published. For example, The Second Oxford European Wound Healing Course Handbook (2009) was published in 2010 by Positif Press (Ref: ISBN 9780906894514). This book is a collection of presentations made at the 2009 Oxford European Summer School on Wound Healing whose theme was Applying Wound Healing to Clinical Practice. Course faculty came mostly from different parts of Europe.
In 2015, following the dissolution of the Oxford Wound Healing Summer School on 18 August 2015 due to the death of Dr. George Cherry, Dr. Geissler established a private tutorial summer school under the trade name Academy of Wound Healing located at 9 Saint Michael’s Street, Oxford, on premises of the Oxford Union. The Academy of Wound Healing was established as a tribute to the pioneering work of Dr. George Cherry and Professor Keith Harding. Dr. Geissler sought to extend the legacy of the Oxford International Wound Foundation by offering individual and small group summer school tuition in clinical aspects of diabetic wound care and the biology of wound healing. Dr. Geissler consulted Dr. Thomas K. Hunt, MD, FACS, a world-renowned expert on wound healing at University of California, San Francisco, and others on how best to craft the curriculum for the Academy of Wound Healing summer school in Oxford.
In 2015, Dr. Geissler established the European Podiatry Clinic in Cyprus and Greece where English is widely-spoken, and where podiatry is an unregulated profession. Every summer thereafter, Dr. Geissler returned to Oxford to offer private tutorial instruction in wound care at the Academy of Wound Healing in Oxford.
In 2020, the covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to continue operations of the in-person summer school at Oxford. Not surprisingly, the pandemic brought about widespread acceptance of online instruction. This acceptance prompted Dr. Geissler to plan to teach advanced clinical methods of wound healing to a broader community of healthcare professionals throughout Europe and USA by offering the course online via synchronous instruction.
In 2021, Dr. Geissler proposed an affiliation with University of Providence as a means of promoting orderly growth and development of his private tutorial summer school in Oxford into a degree-granting institution of higher education in USA. Towards that end, Dr. Geissler registered the Academy of Wound Healing with the Secretary of State in the State of Montana. Accordingly, the Academy of Wound Healing is governed by state law and the rules and policies of the Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education. [Ref: Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education Surety Bond for Postsecondary Educational Institutions, Surety Bond No. 65521378 dated 4, June 2021.]
Academy of Wound Healing is still located at 9 Saint Michael’s Street in Oxford.
Prospective applicants for the M.Sc. in Wound Healing may contact Dr. Geissler.
Dr. Geissler, Program Director
ACADEMY OF WOUND HEALING
9 Saint Michael’s Street, Oxford OX1 2RR (UK)
TEL: +44 (0)1865 – 521173 (UK)
TEL: +1 415 – 887 8704 (USA)
Email: director@academyofwh.com