David Knighton, M.D. (Minnesota) is a visionary medical researcher who has worked with C. Everett Koop, Judah Folkman, Thomas Hunt, and other giants in the field.  For ten years, Dr. Knighton ran the Wound Healing and Limb Salvage Clinic at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, which specialized in healing patients who had been declared unhealable by other doctors.  Dr. Knighton also founded Curative Technologies, a medical technology company whose products stimulate healing in previously non-healing wounds.  Curative went public in 1992; since then its revenues have exceeded $80 million annually.  David was profiled by Forbes for Curative's medical innovations—and for its profitability.  David also founded Embro Vascular, which developed and commercialized a practical vein harvesting system.  After this system was purchased by Guidant, its sales grew to over $120 million annually.  David has published hundreds of short pieces in general-interest publications, including the Chicago Tribune, Science, and the Chicago Sun-Times, as well as 100+ articles in medical journals such as Lancet, Annals of Surgery, and Cell and Tissue Research.

In 2002, David founded Creative Water Solutions, which develops and sells all-natural water treatment and purification systems that use sphagnum moss instead of chemicals.  CWS products are used in personal pools and spas throughout North America, as well as in community and fitness-center pools.  Earlier this year, Creative Water Solutions and David were featured in a Forbes.com profile.  On August 16, Fox News also ran a piece on David and CWS.  On August 28, The New York Times profiled David and CWS in its Green, Inc. blog.  The following week, the profile was published worldwide in the print edition of the International Herald Tribune.  On October 30, Discovery News, the website of the Discovery Channel, published an interview with David about CWS.

In 2006, David was named Innovator of the Year by Finance and Commerce magazine.