Building on the success of our 2024 Summit, we will tackle the challenges hindering wound care innovation and explore solutions to accelerate advancements.

The work we do at the Wound Care Collaborative Community (WCCC) Driving Innovation in Wound Care Summit has the power to change lives.

The 2025 Summit will be held May 2 in Grapevine, Texas, co-located with the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring/Wound Healing Society. We will bring together thought leaders from the WCCC, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) with key opinion leaders, researchers, and representatives from industry, health systems and payers for one purpose: to overcome barriers to innovation in wound care.

This initiative represents the collective efforts of the collaborative community and is a result of three years’ worth of dedication from diverse sectors within the wound care space. It not only incorporates research funded by WCCC but also recognizes the invaluable contributions of our volunteers and the FDA, whose efforts have been instrumental in making this Summit a truly meaningful and transformative experience. 

2025 Agenda

Building on the success of our 2024 Summit, we will tackle the challenges hindering wound care innovation and explore solutions to accelerate advancements. This year’s agenda is packed with insightful sessions designed to address key issues and drive progress in wound care. 

Following breakfast and opening remarks, Michelle Tarver, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, will deliver a Keynote Address at 8:30 a.m. followed by Q&A. An overview and update of current WCCC projects will follow, including:

• Natural History Project (RWE), presented by Dr. Luc Vlad and Dr. Caroline Fife
• Diagnostics: Tools for Wound Healing, presented by Dr. Alisha Oropallo and Dr. Holly Korzendorfer
• Improving Clinical Trial Design and Reporting, presented by Dr. Marissa Carter and Dr. Marjana Tomic-Canic
• Advanced Wound Care and Dressing Standards, presented by Dr. Sarah Griffiths
• Defining Standard of Care: Intro and Update, presented by Dr. Maribel Henao
• Recommendations for Chronic Wounds: FDA Guidance Update on Clinical Trial Design, presented by Dr. Windy Cole and Dr. Mitch Sanders
• New Initiatives: ICD-10 DFU and 10-Year DFU Wound Registry, presented by me and Donna Cartwright

Q&A discussions will follow these presentations, chaired by Dr. Windy Cole with panelists Dr. Bill Ennis, Dr. Bill Tettelbach, Dr. Emma Wright, Dr. K. Dev Verma, FDA CDER, Dr. Dheeredra Kommala, and Dr. Teresa Jones.

Afternoon panel discussions include:

• AI: Should We Plan and What Do We Know, chaired by Dr. Alisha Oropallo with panelists Patrick Chang, Karen Cross, Christopher Harte and Dr. Beate Hanson
• Decentralized Clinical Trials and Remote Patient Monitoring, chaired by Dr. Rob Synder with panelists Dr. K. Dev Verma, FDA, and Dr. Emma Wright
• Engagement with FDA, NIH, and WCCC for Start-Up Companies, co-chaired by me and Joe Rolley with panelists Dr. K. Dev Verma-FDA CDER, Dr. David Sommers, Dr. Marjana Tomic-Canic, Dr. Marissa Carter, Howard Walthall, Kathleen Fritsch, FDA CDER, and Dr. Shabnam Vaezzadeh
• Supporting Innovation: Round Table Discussion with FDA and CMS, co-chaired by Howard Walthall and Joe Rolley with panelists Dr. David Sommers, Dr. K. Dev Verma, FDA CDER, Dr. Dheerendra Kommala, Dr. Beate Hanson, Dr. Weimeng Wang, Dr. Windy Cole, me, and Dr. Julia Ju, FDA CDER

The Summit will conclude with a social hour with attendees and faculty members, offering an opportunity for continued networking and conversation. 

A bonus session will be held a day before — during SAWC Spring/WHS — where we are participating in an intermeeting discussion with the FDA, “Developing Products for Non-healing Chronic Wounds: WCCC and the FDA Perspectives,” to be held from 10:45-11:45 a.m. Thursday, May 1. We will outline challenges in the development of innovative products for non-healing chronic wounds, discuss the FDA’s collaborative role in wound care innovation, and WCCC projects to address the identified challenges.

Collaborative Approach

When we work together, our patients win. By overcoming barriers to innovation and care, we can reduce patient suffering, shorten recovery times, and minimize complications. This leads to more effective treatments, helps address chronic wounds, and ultimately contributes to a more efficient and equitable healthcare system — ensuring that patients get the best possible care.

WCCC is honored to facilitate this meeting. We’re a nonprofit organization that brings together clinicians, health systems, researchers, government agencies, patients and manufacturers of drugs, biologics and diagnostics medical devices, and a focal point for collaboration among various segments of the wound care community. We work closely together with the FDA and CMS in overcoming medical device, drug, diagnostics, and biologic challenges to remove barriers to innovation. 

2025 Sponsors

This year’s event is proudly supported by a distinguished lineup of organizations dedicated to driving innovation in the field. Our Headline Sponsor is Organogenesis Inc., with Encoll Corporation serving as Premier Sponsor. We are also honored to have the support of our Collaborators: Extremity Care, Kerecis, Mölnlycke Health Care, and Stability Biologics. General supporters include BioLab Sciences, Essity, MediWound, MIMEDX Group, Inc., MIMOSA Diagnostics, MTF Biologics, Reprise Biomedical, and Solventum and Contributor sponsors are Altrazeal, Gel4Med, Integra LifeSciences Corporation, ProDevLabs LLC, and Reapplix.

I hope to see you at this year’s Summit. Together, we can accelerate advancements in wound care and improve outcomes for patients. To apply for an invitation, visit the summit website. Learn more about WCCC’s mission and work here.

Dr. Vickie R. Driver is a professor at Washington State University’s School of Medicine and the founding chair of the Wound Care Collaborative Community, collaborating with the FDA, CMS and the National Institutes of Health. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons-Glasgow and an Inaugural Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care.