News Archive

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.

The Academy is just a few weeks away (March 22–26, 2022) and Duke Orthopaedics will be well-represented with 100+ outstanding presentations, papers, cases, classes, posters, and more. Click here to view the 2022 Duke Orthopaedics schedule of presentations and posters

The Inaugural Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Research Seminar Series presentation will be given by Dr. Pamela Duncan, an internationally recognized physical therapist researcher and a prior Division Chief of the Duke DPT program. Dr. Duncan will talk about her journey of building a successful research career beyond just science. The presentation will be in-person (IPE Lecture Hall, room 1250), streamed via Zoom, and recorded for limited on-demand viewing. There will be CEU’s available for clinicians (PT and OT). If you have any questions, please contact

The newly released 2022 NIH Blue Ridge rankings show that Duke Orthopaedics is again ranked second in the United States for NIH funding for an orthopaedics department. Duke’s School of Medicine as a whole is ranked third in the US. Our continued growth and exceptional work have resulted in a steady rise over the past decade. Additionally, our department has two faculty in the top ten most-funded investigators for members of an orthopaedic department and seven of our faculty in the top 50 most funded. ​

Brian Lau, MD was one of six orthopedic surgeons selected to participate in the Arthroscopy Association of North America Advanced Arthroscopy (AANA) Traveling Fellowship Program for 2022. ​ ​

The challenges over the past two years–the COVID-19 pandemic, racial and social injustice, and economic uncertainty, have taken their toll on our mental health and stress levels. Thank you for your continued dedication and contributions during this time.

ORS held its annual meeting during February 4 – 8, 2022, in Tampa, and Lou DeFrate and Amy McNulty and their labs had a combined 14 paper presentations, posters, and workshops! And they were able to cheer the Blue Devils to victory over the Tarheels! Congratulations to all.      

Despite the Omicron variant and COVID, the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting was still a great time. Though we missed many people and presentations due to the winter storm, and it was much chillier than we were expecting in San Antonio, Duke DPT had a great showing. Here are some highlights:

Please join in recognizing National Women Physicians Day, all women physicians, and those in our department. 


Please join in welcoming Dr. Jon Dickens to Duke Orthopaedics as a member of the Sports division. Jon grew up as the son of a military family and while both of his parents are from North Carolina, he was born in Alabama and lived in Maryland, Virginia, Alabama (twice), and Indianapolis before attending Davidson College on an ROTC scholarship.