Skip to Content

'
Olivier C. Wenker, M.D., MBA, D.E.A.A.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Director of Technology Discovery, Office of Translational Research, The University of Texas The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Adjunct Professor, Health Informatics, The University of Texas School for Health Information Sciences, Houston, TX

Bio Statement

Since 2001, Dr. Wenker is M. D. Anderson Cancer Center's Director of Technology Discovery. In this function, he has created a novel support mechanism for clinical and research faculty. The fund he manages created within a few years a multiple of 4 on value creation for the institution. Dr. Wenker also teaches entrepreneurship classes in collaboration with The University of Texas System.

Dr. Wenker started his career as an anesthesiologist in 1985. He is triple European board certified in anesthesiology, critical care medicine and emergency/disaster medicine and holds the title Professor of Anesthesiology. Dr. Wenker served many years as emergency/trauma physician on board rescue helicopters, ICU airplanes, ambulances, and emergency physician vehicles. He worked as a trauma field physician, rescue diver, disaster medicine triage and lead physician, and served many years as chief of a medical team for special police forces. He was involved in over 700 rescue missions. In 2004, Dr. Wenker earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Jones Graduate School for Management at Rice University in Houston, Texas, receiving the prestigious Jones Award for Academic Excellence.

Dr. Wenker's special interests involve electronic publishing and the use of digital information for education. In 1996, he founded "Internet Scientific Publications, LLC." This online platform became the world's largest independent electronic medical publishing house. Dr. Wenker is also involved in the field of anti-aging and the use of nutritional products for general health, disease prevention, and doping-free performance enhancement. He recently passed his board exam in anti-aging, nutritional, and regenerative medicine. He is currently enrolled in a fellowship program in integrative cancer medicine and a masters program in anti-aging and functional medicine.

Research Interests

Dr. Wenker's special interests involve electronic publishing and the use of digital information for education. In 1996, he founded "Internet Scientific Publications, LLC." This online platform became the world's largest electronic medical publishing house. Approximately 15,000 daily readers enjoy the free medical content offered by the site. Dr. Wenker created and launched 64 online journals in the past nine years. He assembled over 1,000 international editors and reviewers and closely collaborates with over 60 editors-in-chief. For two consecutive years he won the esteemed ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) "Exceptional Merit for Outstanding Education in Anesthesia Award." In addition, he won over 20 awards for his online journals. Most recently he received the Golden Web Award presented by the International Association of Webmasters and Designers.

Dr. Wenker is also involved in promoting nutritional products for general health and disease prevention. He currently consults and supports over a dozen professional athletes from the National Football League (NFL) with nutritional supplements for doping-free performance enhancement.

Clinical Interests

Anti-aging, nutritional, regenerative, integrative medicine.

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

2004 Rice University, Houston, TX, MBA, Business Administration
1983 University of Zuerich, Zuerich, Switzerland, MD, Medicine

Postgraduate Training

1993-1995 Clinical Fellowship, Cardiovascular Anesthesiology (Visiting Assistant Professor), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, Prof. W. Childres, M.D., Chairman
1993 Clinical Fellowship, Intensive Care Medicine (Surgery/Pediatrics/Neurosurgery), University Hospital Basle, Basle, Switzerland, Prof. D. Scheidegger, M.D., Chairman
1992 Clinical Fellowship, Emergency Medicine, Swiss Air Rescue REGA, Kloten, Switzerland, Carlo Hoefliger, M.D., Chairman
1990-1992 Clinical Fellowship, Intensive Care Medicine (Cardiovascular/Medicine/Surgery), Spital Triemli, Triemli, Switzerland, Pius Frei, M.D., Chairman
1990-1992 Clinical Residency, Anesthesiology (Cardiovascular/Medicine/Surgery), Spital Triemli, Triemli, Switzerland, Pius Frei, M.D., Chairman
1987-1990 Clinical Residency, Surgery and Intensive Care Medicine, Spital Maennedorf, Maennedorf, Switzerland, Prof. A. Hollinger, M.D., Chairman
1987 Clinical Residency, Emergency Medicine, Swiss Air Rescue REGA, Kloten, Switzerland, Carlo Hoefliger, M.D., Chairman
1986 Clinical Residency, Surgery, Spital Richterswil, Richterswil, Switzerland, R. Hegglin, M.D., Chairman
1985-1986 Clinical Residency, Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zuerich, Zuerich, Switzerland, Prof. G. Hossli, M.D., Chairman
1984 Family Medicine, Family Practice of J. Crottett Praxis, M.D., Bruettisellen, Switzerland, J. Crottett Praxis, M.D.
1984 Clinical Residency, Emergency Medicine and Repatriation Flights, Swiss Air Rescue, Zuerich, Switzerland, Carlo Hoefliger, M.D., Chairman

Board Certifications

2009 Board Certified and Diplomat of American Academy of Antiaging and Regenerative Medicine (ABAARM)
1996 Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, Medical Jurisprudence Examination

Honors and Awards

2005 Global Development Network GDN is an ever-expanding global association of research and policy institutes in the social sciences. Internet Scientific Publications has been judged as having made exciting and promising contributions to research on the health sector and was selected in 2005 to gain more exposure through Global Development Awards programs, Global Development Network
2003 "The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology" has been selected as Referred Online Resource by the International Center for Scientific Research, International Center for Scientific Research
2003 "The Internet Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery" has been selected as Referred Online Resource, International Center for Scientific Research
2003 Internet Scientific Publications was honored with the Golden Web Award 2003-2004, presented by the International Association of Webmasters and Designers, International Association of Webmasters and Designers
2001 "Exceptional Merit for Outstanding Education in Anesthesiology Award", American Society of Anesthesiologists ASA for the Scientific Exhibit: The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology, An Online Education Initiative
2000 "BestOfTheWeb Award" and inclusion of "Internet Scientific Publications" in the popularity database of the meta search engine, BestOfTheWeb.com
2000 "CEhub Award," "The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology" has been rated by cehub.com to be an industry leader in the top percentile of its medical field and to be one of the top associations in the nursing industry, CEhub
2000 "Exceptional Merit for Outstanding Education in Anesthesiology Award", American Society of Anesthesiologists ASA for the Scientific Exhibit: Central Venous Catheters, An Educational CD-ROM
2000 "Healthlinks Selected Medical Web Site Award" for Internet Scientific Publications. ISPUB.com was judged for content of interest to healthcare professionals, tone and presentation maintained at a professional level, site structure, navigation and graphic design executed at a professional level, and a high level of integrity and credibility, Healthlinks
2000 "Links2Go Key Resource Award" and inclusion of "The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology" in the Links2Go database, Links2Go
2000 "Med411 Award" for "The Internet Journal of Academic Physician Assistants." The award is issued according to following criteria: Content of interest to healthcare professionals; tone and presentation maintained at a professional level; site structure, navigation and graphic design executed at a professional level, Med411
2000 "WebsMostLinked Award" for Internet Scientific Publications. WebsMostLinked is an independent rating system that ranks all the millions of domains on the Internet by their popularity rating. Popularity is a factor of the number of links pointing to the domain on other Web pages. My Web site was rated in August 2000 to be the 11,429th most popular Web site out of the top million Web sites worldwide, indexed by the automatic robot, WebsMostLinked.com
2000 MedExplorer Selected Site Award for Internet Scientific Publications LLC from MedExplorer, a health and medical research search engine, MedExplorer
2000 The Florida International University High Performance Database Research Center, Division of Medical Informatics selected "The Internet Journal of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine" as recommended medical resource, Florida International University High Performance Database Research Center
2000 The Internet Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery and The Internet Journal of Cardiology were awarded by Heart and Coeur to be recommended resources in the field of Cardiovascular Medicine, Heart and Coeur
1999 "BioMedLink Award" and inclusion of "The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology" in the BioMedLink database, BioMedLink
1999 "Britannica Internet Guide Award" for high quality web sites. My web site Internet Scientific Publications LLC has been selected as one of the best on the Internet when reviewed for quality, accuracy of content, presentation and usability, Britannica
1999 "StudyWeb Excellence Award" for "The Internet Journal of Rescue and Disaster Medicine", Study Web
1999 Medical online journals published by Internet Scientific Publications were selected to be listed in "The Association of Research Libraries" first edition of the "Directory of Scholarly Electronic Journals and Academic Discussion Lists"
1998 "Sigma Theta Tau International 1999 Information Technology Award for Knowledge Advancement in Electronic Publishing" for "The Internet Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice." Sigma Theta Tau is the International Honor Society for Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau
1998 The Internet Journal of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine was selected to be the "Site of the Month at Critical Care Interactive." This web site is dedicated to critical care and has about 30,000 monthly visitors
1993 Prize for the best Poster (Preclinical Therapy of the Hypothermic Patient), Swiss Emergency-Medicine Association, Emergency-Physicians-Symposium 1993 in Zuerich

Professional Memberships

A4M (American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine)
Member, 6/2008-present
AHA (American Heart Association) Council on Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care
Member, 1995-present
AMPA (American Medical Publishers Association)
Member, 1997-present
ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists)
Member, Electronic Media Information Technology EMIT Committee, 1998
Member, 1990-present
Collaborative Center for Biotechnology
Member, Organizing and Steering Committee, 2003-2006
ESA (European Society of Anesthesiologists)
Member, Online Help for Anesthesiologists OLEH Committee, 2005-present
Member, Computer and Monitoring Committee, 2004
Member, 1995-present
FMH (Foederatio mediocorum helveticorum)
Member, 1983-present
Greater Houston Partnership, Houston, TX
Member, Biotech Subcommittee, Emerging Business Council, 2001-2004
Greater Houston Society of Critical Care Medicine, Houston, TX
Member, 1983-present
Houston Technology Center, Houston, TX
Member, Life Sciences Steering Committee, 2001-2004
Houston Wellness Association, Houston, TX
Member, 2009-present
IARS (International Anesthesia Research Society)
Member, 1983-2000
ICAAP (International Consortium for Alternative Academic Publications)
Member, Governmental Board, 1999-2002
Member, 1995-present
ITACCS (International Anesthesia and Critical Care Society)
Member, 1994-present
Medical Wellness Association
Advisory Board Member, 2009-present
National Council for University Startups
Reviewer and Judge, 6/2008
SAEPE (Swiss Association for Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition), Switzerland
Member, 1990-1995
SATA (Society for Advanced Telecommunications in Anesthesia)
Member, 1993-1998
SCA (Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists)
Member, International Committee, 2005-present
Member, Electronic Communications Committee, 2001-2005
Member, 1997-present
SCIA (Society for Computers in Anesthesia)
President, 2000-2001
Member, 1997-present
SGAR (Swiss Association of Anaesthesiology), Switzerland
Member, 1984-present
SGI (Swiss Association for Intensive Care Medicine), Switzerland
Member, 1987-present
SKH Active Membership (Swiss Disaster Relief Unit), Switzerland
Member, 1984-1993
SPTG (Swiss Police Training Group), Switzerland
Member, 1985-present
SRFW Active Membership (Swiss Air Rescue), Switzerland
Member, 1981-present
STA (Society for Technology in Anesthesia)
Section Chair, "Computers in Anesthesia", 2000-2001
Non-Voting Member of the Board of Directors, 2000
Member, 1995-present
TexChange (Texas Entrepreneur Exchange)
Advisory Board Member, 2001-present
TSA (Texas Society of Anesthesiologists)
Delegate, 2000-2003
Member, Communications Committee, 1999
Member, Newsletter Committee, 1999
Alternate Delegate, 1997-1998
Member, 1983-present
TUNIE (Texas Universities Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
Executive Board Member, 6/2008-present
Representative, Texas Life Science Institutes, 6/2008-present
VSAO-ZH (Zuerich State Society of Medical Residents and Faculty), Zuerich, Switzerland
President, 1987-1990
Member, 1983-1993
VSN (Swiss Association of Emergency Physicians), Switzerland
Member, 1985-2002

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Wenker O. A City Within a City: Houston's Disaster Relief Efforts to Help Evacuees Escaping from the Damage Caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Internet Journal of Rescue and Disaster Medicine 5(1), 2005.
2. Wenker O. Handheld and Wearable Computing in Anesthesiology. Web site of the European Society of Anesthesiologists, 2003.
3. Wenker O. Handheld Computing in Medicine. The Internet Journal of Medical Informatics 1, 2003.
4. Wenker O. Electronic Publishing in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine. The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology 6, 2002.
5. Srejic U, Wenker O. Preoperative Anesthesia Clinic. The Internet Journal of Health 2, 2002.
6. Shi Y, Sosteric M, Wenker O. A Call To Arms; The Upcoming Revolution in the Scholarly Communication System. The Journal of Electronic Publishing 7(2), 12/2001.
7. Nates J, Wenker O. Update on the State of the Internet Journal of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine. The Internet Journal of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine 5(2), 8/2001.
8. Thakar D, Sinha A, Wenker O. Concepts Of Neonatal Extracorporal Membrane Oxygenation ECMO. The Internet Journal of Anesthesiology 5(3), 2001.
9. Darouiche RO, Raad II, Heard SO, Thornby JI, Wenker OC, Gabrielli A, Berg J, Khardori N, Hanna H, Hachem R, Harris RL, Mayhall G. A comparison of two antimicrobial-impregnated central venous catheters. Catheter Study Group. N Engl J Med 340(1):1-8, 1/7/1999. PMID: 9878638.
10. Chen K, Varon J, Wenker OC. Malignant airway obstruction: recognition and management. J Emerg Med 16(1):83-92, Jan-Feb, 1998. PMID: 9472765.
11. Chen K, Varon J, Wenker OC, Judge DK, Fromm RE Jr, Sternbach GL. Acute thoracic aortic dissection: the basics. J Emerg Med 15(6):859-867, Nov-Dec, 11/1997. PMID: 9404805.

Book Chapters
1. Sinha A, Thakar D, Wenker O. Extracorporal Membrane Oxygenation ECMO in Infants. In: Pediatric Intensive Care, 2000.

Manuals, Teaching Aids, Other Teaching Publications
1. Wenker O. Central Venous Catheters, An Educational Multimedia CD-ROM. Published and distributed by Cook Critical Care, 2000.

Last updated: 6/24/2011