Mount Sinai Names Leesa Galatz System Chair of Orthopaedics
Renowned surgeon Leesa Galatz, MD, has been named System Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She will assume her new role in October 2015.
Dr. Galatz is an expert in surgery for traumatic and degenerative disorders of the shoulder and elbow, including rotator cuff repair; arthroscopic surgery, and minimally invasive fracture repair. Beyond her clinical work, Dr. Galatz is a leading researcher in tendon healing and tissue engineering as part of major projects funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"We are thrilled to have surgeon and researcher of Dr. Galatz's stature join Mount Sinai, and believe her collaboration with orthopaedic physicians across the Mount Sinai Health System will yield tremendous results,"said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System. "Given Dr. Galatz's years of clinical care and research, we have no doubt the department will thrive under her leadership."
"As a leading researcher in shoulder and elbow surgery, Dr. Galatz has unique expertise and experience that will be a great asset to our school of medicine and hospitals,"said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine. "We firmly believe her leadership will yield advances in the field of orthopaedics,"said Dr. Charney, also President for Academic Affairs for the Health System.
Dr. Galatz joins Mount Sinai from Washington University in St. Louis, where she is currently Chief of the Shoulder and Elbow Service. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Charles S. Neer award for Basic Science Research from the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons in 2009, and the 2014 Kappa Delta Ann Doner Vaughan Award given by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Dr. Galatz is the associate editor for basic science for the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and is a peer reviewer for other orthopedic publications. She has served as a member-at large on the Board of American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and as a delegate-at-large on the board of the American Orthopaedic Association's Executive Committee.
Dr. Galatz earned her MD degree at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC. After her internship and residency at George Washington University Hospital, Dr. Galatz pursued a fellowship in shoulder and elbow surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Upon completing her training in 1999, she was appointed to the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. The Health System includes approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, a school of nursing, and schools of medicine and graduate school of biomedical sciences.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York and recognized as one of the world’s top Smart Hospital by Newsweek. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.
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