A University of Virginia professor is being honored as the inventor of the year for a gel that treats burns and chronic wounds.

The University of Virginia Patent Foundation named George T. Rodeheaver, a 36-year veteran in the U.Va. Department of Plastic Surgery, the 2008 Edlich-Henderson Inventor of the Year for his research in developing PluroGel, a topical treatment that thickens at high temperatures and liquefies at cooler temperatures. The ointment is easily removed by cool water, making it much less painful than other treatments, according to a U.Va. news release.

More than 2,000 patients, some referred from up to 400 miles away, have benefited from the invention, according to the university.

“The technology has had a dramatic impact so far,” Rodeheaver said in a statement. The professor is also director of U.Va.’s Wound Healing Research Laboratory. “The fact is that in our burn center, we have been able to eliminate infection, which was the leading cause of death 15 years ago. And we have had great success in healing chronic wounds, many of which [with traditional remedies] had not healed for numerous years.”

One example of a chronic wound is a diabetic ulcer.