VCU news

By Carrie Carroll

Virginia Commonwealth University has appointed Stephen Kates, M.D., as chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the School of Medicine.

Kates comes to VCU from the University of Rochester where he was the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and the associate director for the Center for Musculoskeletal Research, a top-ranked orthopedic laboratory. After earning his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School, he completed his residency training at Northwestern University and the University of Rochester.

Dr. Kates is an internationally recognized surgeon-scientist.

“Dr. Kates is an internationally recognized surgeon-scientist,” said Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine. “He is an authority on geriatric fractures and infections associated with total joint replacement. Dr. Kates is also a national figure in the assessment of quality metrics in orthopedic surgery.”

Kates is the editor of Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation and is past president of the International Geriatric Fracture Society. He serves as the principal investigator of the AO Foundation-Trauma Clinical Priority Program on Bone Infection. He was named a top orthopedic surgeon in U.S. News and World Report 2006-2015.

Kates and his research partners won the 2015 Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research/Orthopaedic Research Society Richard Brand Award for the most outstanding clinical orthopedic research paper, “A Multiplex Assay of Host Immunity Against Staph Aureus for Osteomyelitis Patients.”

Kates, an internationally recognized thought leader in geriatric fracture care, developed the Geriatric Fracture Center Model of Care, which has been emulated by many hospitals in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Latin America and Asia. In addition, he serves as the orthopedic leader of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, American College of Surgeons national-focused registry on hip fractures.

 “The plan for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is to be recognized as a ‘top 20’ ranked program in the United States in clinical care, research and teaching in the next five years,” Kates said.

Kates succeeds Robert S. Adelaar, M.D., who joined VCU in 1976 and was named department chair and the John A. Cardea Endowed Chair in 2002.