A Philadelphia-based orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Williams, is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in the care and treatment of shoulders. He practices with the Rothman Institute at Jefferson in Philadelphia where he is the chief of the division of shoulder and elbow surgery. Dr. Williams has served in various faculty positions since 1990 and currently is the John M. Fenlin, Jr, MD, Professor of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Jefferson Medical College.
Published 4/1/2014
At the end of the AAOS Business Meeting during the 2014 AAOS Annual Meeting, Joshua J. Jacobs, MD, introduced the new members of the AAOS Board of Directors. They include the new second vice-president, a treasurer-elect, two elected at-large members, the recently elected secretaries of the Board of Councilors (BOC) and Board of Specialty Societies (BOS), and newly appointed Council and Cabinet Chairs (nonvoting seats).
Gerald R. Williams, Jr, MD
Second Vice President
After earning his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pa., Dr. Williams received his medical degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. He interned in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas, where he also completed his orthopaedic surgery residency and a fellowship in shoulder surgery.
Dr. Williams has served in several volunteer leadership roles at the AAOS including a previous 2-year term on the Board of Directors, chair of the CME Committee, and a position on the Committee on Shoulder and Elbow. He has served as the president of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons and has been a member and president of the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Society, the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society, and the Mid-Atlantic Shoulder and Elbow Society, which he cofounded.
Ken Yamaguchi, MD, MBA
Treasurer-elect
In 1995, Dr. Yamaguchi founded the Shoulder and Elbow Service at Washington University, which has since become nationally and internationally recognized for innovations in shoulder and elbow surgery, as well as research on shoulder and elbow disorders. In 2006, the Service opened the Washington University Shoulder and Elbow Center, the first of its kind dedicated to the treatment of shoulder and elbow disorders. In December 2012, Dr. Yamaguchi received his MBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Yamaguchi has won numerous awards for his research, including the 2014 Ann Doner Vaughan Kappa Delta Award; the Emmanuel B. Kaplan Award for Anatomical Excellence in Surgery of the Hand; and the John J. Fahey, MD, Memorial North American Traveling Fellowship.
Raj D. Rao, MD
Member-at-large (Age 45 or older)
Dr. Rao participates in and contributes to many national scientific committees, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Panel on Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Devices and the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Commission. Dr. Rao also is a member of the Executive Board of Directors of the Lumbar Spine Research Society, and an active member of the North American Spine Society (NASS) where he sits on the Board of Directors and chairs the Continuing Medical Education Committee.
Dr. Rao completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. His fellowships include spine surgery at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.; a research fellowship in orthopaedic surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada; a research fellowship in spine surgery at Orthopaedische Klinik Seepark, Bremerhaven, Germany; and a research fellowship in orthopaedic surgery at Orthopaedic Hospital, Los Angeles.
Jennifer M. Weiss, MD
Member-at-large (Under age 45)
Dr. Weiss most recently held a position on the Academy’s Communications Cabinet and served on the Women’s Health Initiatives Advisory Board from 2011 to 2013. She also is the treasurer and website committee chair for the Research in Osteochondritis of the Knee (ROCK) Study Group of America and serves on the Technology Oversight Committee as chair of POSNA’s Patient and Parent Education Website Team.
A Philadelphia-based orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Williams, is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in the care and treatment of shoulders. He practices with the Rothman Institute at Jefferson in Philadelphia where he is the chief of the division of shoulder and elbow surgery. Dr. Williams has served in various faculty positions since 1990 and currently is the John M. Fenlin, Jr, MD, Professor of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Jefferson Medical College.
Currently the Sam and Marilyn Fox Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and chief of the Shoulder and Elbow Service at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Yamaguchi, completed his residency training at George Washington University, and fellowship training in shoulder surgery at Columbian Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. This was followed by supplemental training in elbow surgery at the Mayo Clinic.
A Wisconsin orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Rao, served in several leadership capacities prior to his election to the AAOS Board of Directors. He was chair of the AAOS Diversity Advisory Board (2011–2014) and an Academy Leadership Fellow in 2005. Dr. Rao is a professor of orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. His special interests include degenerative conditions of the neck and back, spine trauma, tumors, and deformity.
A California orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Weiss, specializes in pediatric orthopaedics and sports medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she serves on the radiation utilization committee and the suspected child abuse and neglect (SCAN) team. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, Dr. Weiss completed her internship in general surgery and residency in orthopaedic surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine. Her fellowship in pediatric orthopaedics was completed at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
A Florida-based orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Halperin, earned a degree in biological chemistry from Tulane University in New Orleans. He earned his medical degree at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center’s College of Medicine, completed an internship in general surgery and an orthopaedic residency at the State University Health Sciences Center and Kings County Medical Center in Brooklyn, and a fellowship in hand surgery at the department of orthopaedic surgery of SUNY’s Health Sciences Center in Syracuse, N.Y.
A member of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) and the Scoliosis Research Society, Dr. Smith, was elected BOS Secretary at its Fall Meeting. He graduated from Williams College and earned his MD from the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Orthopaedic Surgery and a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedics at Boston Children’s Hospital.
As chair of the AAOS Council on Education plans, Dr. Flatow, will guide the organization, direction, and evaluation of the Academy’s multifaceted education programs in the areas of clinical orthopaedics, basic science, practice management, and patient and public education.
A Philadelphia-area orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Hilibrand, will lead the AAOS Communications Cabinet in promoting musculoskeletal health, injury prevention, and the specialty of orthopaedics through media relations and internal and external communications, including the Academy’s member magazine, AAOS Now.
Lawrence S. Halperin, MD
BOC Secretary
Dr. Halperin is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA), the Florida Medical Association, and the Orange County Medical Society. He has been active as the BOC representative from Florida and serves on the Orlando Regional Orthopaedic Medical Economic and Outcome Committee. He was also a member of the Healthcare Advisory Panel for Rep. Tom Feeney.
Dr. Halperin previously served as the Chief of Orthopaedics at Lucerne Medical Center and as a member of the State of Florida Surgical Neuro-Musculoskeletal Guideline Committee. He has also served on the Orthopaedic Quality Assurance Committee at Orlando Regional Healthcare System and served as codirector of the RSD treatment at Lucerne Medical Center. He is in private practice with the Orlando Orthopaedic Center.
Brian G. Smith, MD
BOS Secretary
Dr. Smith is currently professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation and of pediatrics and clinical professor of nursing at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he also serves as director of the Yale Pediatric Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation program and as the residency program director, department of orthopaedics. He previously served as staff orthopaedic surgeon at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton, Ohio.
Evan L. Flatow, MD
Council on Education Chair
Dr. Flatow is the Lasker Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, and president of Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital, both in New York. His clinical research has focused on shoulder fractures, rotator cuff tears, and shoulder replacement, while his basic science research centers on the mechanisms of tendon fatigue damage.
A four-time recipient of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society’s Neer Award, the organization’s highest award for shoulder research, Dr. Flatow has helped to train many of the nation’s leading shoulder surgeons, has chaired or served on the faculty of most of the major national shoulder courses, and has been a sought-after speaker in Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. He has been an AAOS volunteer for more than 20 years and has previously chaired the Shoulder and Elbow, Electronic Media Education, and Publications Committees.
Dr. Flatow received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he also completed a shoulder fellowship. His surgical residency was at Roosevelt Hospital, followed by an orthopaedic residency and fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. Flatow spent 11 years on the faculty of Columbia University before joining Mount Sinai.
Alan S. Hilibrand, MD
Communications Cabinet Chair
Dr. Hilibrand is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in care of the spine. He is a professor of orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery as well as the director of medical education for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Rothman Institute and Jefferson Medical College, both in Philadelphia.
Dr. Hilibrand previously served as vice chair of the Communications Cabinet, as the deputy editor for spine for the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and as a member of the AAOS CME Courses Committee. He has also participated in the Academy’s Leadership Fellows Program. He is the president-elect of the Cervical Spine Research Society, and an active member of the AMA, NASS, and the American Orthopaedic Association.
Dr. Hilibrand earned a bachelors’ degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., and his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. He completed an orthopaedic surgical residency at University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., and a spine and spinal cord injury fellowship with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.