Dr. T. Parker "Tad" Vail, MD, FAOA, delivered the 9th Annual George S.E. Aitken Lectureship on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Dr. Vail presented on his time at Duke with “Letters from Home” and reflected on the lessons he learned while an undergraduate, resident, and faculty member at Duke.
Dr. Vail is the Michael and Antoinette Pappas Endowed Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. He graduated from the Duke University School of Engineering cum laude with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and earned his medical degree at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University, Chicago. He completed his residency training at Duke University and joined the faculty at the Duke University School of Medicine in 1992, advancing to Professor and Director of Adult Reconstructive Surgery before being recruited to the Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco in 2007. He became the James L. Young endowed Professor in 2014, and re- received the Michael and Antoinette Pappas Endowed Chair in 2021. Under Dr. Vail’s leadership, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF has become an international leader in patient care, research, education, and global health.
Dr. Vail is internationally recognized as a specialist in total and partial joint replacement and surgical treatment of hip and knee conditions. He has published several hundred scientific articles, abstracts, book chapters, and educational materials on many facets of hip and knee surgery, surgical training and innovation, health economics, and patient care. He is the past President of the Knee Society, the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, the Eastern Orthopaedic Association, past Vice-President of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, and currently on the Board of Trustees for the JBJS. He has held multiple leadership positions in UCSF Health including creating and serving as the medical director of the UCSF Orthopaedic Institute, the Co-Chair of the UCSF Health Finance committee, and Chair of the Funds Flow committee which created the integration of professional and hospital services at UCSF, and member of the Executive Council. He has multiple patents for orthopaedic devices, has served as an industry consultant, participated on multiple scientific advisory boards, and has helped to start companies in the musculoskeletal device space.
Tad is married to Lisa Giannetto, a practicing internist. They have two children, Parker and Brennan, who is married to Christopher Higgins. They have one grandchild, Charlie (2). Tad and Lisa, along with Jim and Sherry Holtzclaw, co-chaired the highly successful Piedmont Orthopedic Society meeting in Sea Island in 2007.
George S. E. Aitken, M.D. | 1955-2012
George S. E. Aitken, M.D. was born in Liverpool, England, on May 9, 1955, to Louise and Seymour Aitken. After completing his secondary education in Britain he graduated from Harvard University where he excelled as a student and lettered on the crew team. He graduated from Case Western Reserve Medical School before obtaining his orthopaedic residency at Duke which he completed in 1988. He subsequently completed an Adult Reconstruction Fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. While at Duke he married Martha, a 1979 Duke nursing school graduate.
After a brief stint in private practice in the Philadelphia area, Dr. Aitken was recruited back to Duke by Dr. James R. Urbaniak. He established the first outreach program for Duke Orthopaedics in Person County, North Carolina. There, he was a busy and beloved general orthopaedist, providing the highest level of care in trauma, adult reconstruction, and sports medicine. He also served at the Durham VA Hospital, where he shared his vast experience with the Duke residents.
Dr. Aitken was a gentle giant, a true gentleman, and a physician devoted to his patients and family. He was an epicurean and knew the value of hard work, love, and a good joke. Dr. Aitken is survived by his dear wife, Martha, his two cherished sons James and Michael, and a generation of surgeons at Duke that will continue to propagate his memories and values.
Past Lectures
2013 MICHAEL C. BEREND, M.D. | “GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY: LIFE BEYOND DUKE”
2014 GARY M. LOURIE, M.D. | “THE THINGS THEY CARRIED”
2015 GREGORY A. MENCIO, M.D. | “REFLECTIONS ON LEAVING THE DUKE NEST: THE VALUE OF MENTORS, RELATIONSHIPS AND TEAMWORK”
2016 ROBERT M. PEROUTKA, M.D. | “ARTHROPLASTY–FROM EVOLUTION TO TRANSFORMATION”
2017 JAMES R. URBANIAK, M.D. | “ONE DOZEN REFLECTIONS ON INSPIRATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS”
2018 STEVEN C. POLETTI, M.D. | “THE ONE PERCENT”
2019 L. SCOTT LEVIN, M.D. | “THE LETTER WINNER: THE VALUE OF HARD WORK, TEAMWORK AND SACRIFICE”
2020 JULIAN MCCLEES ‘MACK” ALDRIDGE, III, M.D. | “TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE”