School of Medicine
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to each member of our Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and to our alumni who continue to support and uplift UPMC and PittOrtho here at home and across the globe.

I am thankful for the dedication, compassion, and excellence that define our department. Whether in the clinic, the operating room or the lab, your commitment to advancing orthopaedics and education makes a difference in the lives of our patients and in the strength of our community.

To our alumni, thank you for carrying the spirit of UPMC and PittOrtho into your own practices and institutions. Your achievements and ongoing connection to this department inspire us and reinforce the legacy we continue to build together.

I hope each of you finds time this holiday to rest, recharge, and enjoy moments of warmth with family and friends. I am grateful for all you do for your patients and for for each other.

Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful Thanksgiving!!

UPMC-PittOrtho was honored to host two distinguished visiting chiefs for Grand Rounds this past month: Brian Waterman, MD, Chief and Fellowship Director of Sports Medicine and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest Baptist Health, and Fabio Catani, MD, Chief of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia in Italy and Adjunct Professor in our department.

Dr. Waterman spent time with our sports medicine team and delivered a well-attended lecture on controversies in the management of elbow injuries among elite overhead athletes, engaging faculty, residents, fellows, and staff during his visit.

Dr. Catani presented his talk, “The Challenge of Soft Tissue Balancing During UKA & TKA Surgery,” and met with faculty, staff, and trainees. Dr. Catani continues to collaborate with our Biomechanics and BDL Laboratories on research exploring soft tissue healing and behavior after knee surgery. The team’s shared goal is to advance surgical precision and enhance patient recovery after knee reconstruction procedures.

We are grateful to both Dr. Waterman and Dr. Catani for sharing their expertise, spending time with our teams, and contributing to UPMC-PittOrtho’s strong culture of clinical and academic exchange. It was a privilege to host them!

The Pittsburgh Penguins traveled to Stockholm to compete in the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden, a pair of regular-season games held November 14 and 16 at Avicii Arena. The event marked the League’s return to Sweden and continued the NHL’s long-standing commitment to growing the sport internationally.

As the Penguins took the ice against the Nashville Predators, UPMC Sports Medicine physicians Dr. Dharmesh Vyas and Dr. Melissa McLane were on hand to provide expert medical coverage throughout the series. Their presence ensured that players received the highest level of care, support, and injury management while competing abroad.

This fall marked the first UPMC US and UPMC Ireland visiting resident elective program with Dr. Brenda Iglesias (PGY5) leading the charge. The trip was a success, according to Dr. Igelsias who had this to say:

(Editor's note: In Ireland, fully qualified surgeons traditionally use the titles Mr. or Ms./Mrs. instead of Dr. as a customary professional designation.)

"Being part of the inaugural UPMC Ireland SSC visiting elective was an invaluable opportunity to learn from some of the country’s leading surgeons and sports medicine specialists. I had the privilege of working alongside exceptionally skilled upper-extremity surgeons and observing procedures that utilized new implants only now being adopted in the United States. It was an honor to learn from them and to gain skills and insights that I will carry forward into my future practice. Beyond the clinical experience, it was also an incredible opportunity to build meaningful, long-lasting professional relationships.

I am deeply grateful to the consultants who welcomed me into the operating room, including Ms. Delaney, Mr. Mullett, Ms. Byrne, Mr. Moran, Mr. Hansen, and Mr. Piggott. It was also a pleasure to meet SSC founder and medical director Mr. Ray Moran.

I truly appreciated the chance to learn from the primary care sports physicians, including Dr. Cosgrave, as well as the upper limb physiotherapy team led by Niall Ward. Thank you as well to Dr. James, radiologist, for allowing me to join him for ultrasound-guided injections.

Finally, my sincere thanks to Emer Agnew, Professor Devitt, Ms. Delaney, and Mr. Mullett for organizing such enjoyable weekend activities—they made the experience all the more memorable."

 

Dr. Igelsias' experience highlights how global traning opportunities enrich clinical skills, broaden perspectives and strengthen parternships across the world. We look forward to a continued and close parternship with our cohorts in UPMC Ireland SSC!

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery was honored to welcome three Swiss orthopaedic traveling fellows – Dr. Florian Imhoff, Dr. Christian Egloff, and Dr. Robin Martin - to Pittsburgh this week, marking the first-ever visit from this group. Pittsburgh was their first stop on a U.S. tour that will also include Naples, FL, West Palm Beach, FL and New York City, NY.

During their time in Pittsburgh, the fellows experienced a full schedule that highlighted our commitment here at Pitt/UPMC to clinical excellence, research, and education. Their visit included observing three knee surgeries at UPMC Shadyside Hospital, touring the UPMC Freddie Fu Sports Medicine Center, attending academic grand rounds and sports conference, and exploring several of our research facilities including the Biodynamics Lab (BDL), the Orthopaedic Robotics Lab (ORL), and Dr. Eni Halilaj’s Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University.

The fellows expressed their deep appreciation for the opportunity to engage in academic exchange with our faculty and residents and were particularly impressed by the department’s leadership and collaborative spirit. The fellows also shared two casual evenings of fun, conversation and meals with our team and got to see some Pittsburgh landmarks while they were in town.

We are proud to have hosted this inaugural group and look forward to continued collaboration with our Swiss colleagues.

Congratulations to Dr. Gwendolyn Sowa and Dr. Nam Vo on their UC2 grant, “Whole person experience of pain: Novel integration with low back pain phenotypes”, which was recently funded for $20 million by NIAMS and NINDS.

This project builds on the NIH HEAL Initiative and their original U19 study, focusing on capturing biomechanical, biological, and behavioral phenotypes of low back pain to better understand the whole-person experience of chronic pain.

The insights gained from this multicenter, collaborative effort will enable the development of personalized, effective, non-addictive pain treatments.

Now into our 4th year, the UPMC/CNX M.O.V.E.S (Motivation, Opportunity, Value, Experience, Success) hosted 2 groups of CNX Mentorship Academy high school students mid-Novemeber at UPMC Rooney Sports Medicine, UPMC Magee Women's Hospital and UPMC Children's Hospital.

The UPMC/CNX M.O.V.E.S Program provides internships, externships, volunteer opportunities, job shadowing experiences, and on-site visits to 11th and 12th grade students in the CNX Mentorship Academy program.

During their visit, students were introduced to a number of healthcare professionals across in a variety of specialty areas including athletic training, physical therapy, concussion & orthopaedic research, medical education, nursing, radiology, cytology, respiratory therapy and more.

Click here for more information on the UPMC/CNX M.O.V.E.S program.

What drew you to orthopaedics in the first place?
I was attracted to orthopaedics because it is cool and fun. All of us, as physicians, have a passion for and commitment to helping patients. All of us, as surgeons, enjoy solving problems and fixing them. Orthopaedic surgery is a specialty where we can do all of that and have fun doing it!

What are you most passionate about in your practice/research?
My practice emphasizes the patient experience from beginning to end with a focus on making optimal care as easy as possible for the patient. Our goal is to provide solid orthopaedic care in a patient focused and friendly manner.

What’s a memorable case, mentor, or moment from your residency/fellowship that still influences your work today?
When I was a fellow on Dr. Freddie Fu’s service, we had a memorable day in the OR. Another surgeon’s hip scope was running long - several hours actually - into Dr. Fu’s OR time and he let me know, in his classic animated way, just how he felt about it. He made me promise right then and there that I would never do a hip scope. To this day, I’ve kept that promise and I still joke that if I ever tried one, Dr. Fu would somehow find out and let me hear about it. It’s one of my favorite memories of his larger-than-life personality and the way he kept all of us on our toes.

Another crucial lesson was about the “banter of life” from the legendary Dr. Timothy Ward. It is timeless.

What’s one thing you’ve learned since training/residency that you wish you’d known back then?
I wish I had known about the Internet, which did not yet exist! The wealth of information that is now at your fingertips would have been wonderful to have back then!

What advice would you give to current Pitt Ortho residents/fellows?
My advice is to enjoy the journey to the fullest. The years of residency and fellowship are a special time of learning and camaraderie (and stress!) that are hard to replicate after graduation. Make the most of the opportunities while they are available.

 

Would you like to be featured in our next Alumni Corner? Contact Katie Morris at morriskh@upmc.edu for more information!