About the Department of Orthopedic Surgery | NYU Langone Health

Skip to Main Content

About the Department of Orthopedic Surgery

We are internationally recognized as a leader in orthopedic education, research, and patient care.
Joseph D. Zuckerman - Department Chair and Walter A. L. Thompson Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD

Department Chair and Walter A. L. Thompson Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

Whether you are a physician, researcher, fellow, resident, or medical student, NYU Langone Health’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery is here to serve you. We offer a complete spectrum of educational, research, and clinical programs available at multiple locations.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to preparing the next generation of orthopedic surgeons and researchers and encourage you to explore the various opportunities to train at one of the largest academic orthopedic departments in the country.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at orthopedicsurgery@nyulangone.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

Our Educational and Research Opportunities

The Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone is one of the largest in the country, recognized internationally as a leader in orthopedic education and research. Our educational programs, led by Kenneth A. Egol, MD, vice chair for clinical affairs, and Eric J. Strauss, MD, director of our residency program, include the largest orthopedic residency program in the country and fellowship programs in many of the major orthopedic subspecialties.

Headed by Philipp Leucht, MD, PhD, director of research, our research faculty seek to create and discover treatments, techniques, and devices that improve the care of patients with a wide range of orthopedic disorders. Molecular and biomechanical research is the major focus of the department’s Musculoskeletal Research Center, while clinical research projects are conducted by the Center for Clinical Research and the Center for Quality and Patient Safety.

The Center for Orthopedic Innovation, headed by Morteza Meftah, MD, brings together creative problem-solvers in the orthopedic field to assist them in bringing their ideas into practice.

Our Divisions

Our faculty includes renowned surgeons who teach and practice in all of the major orthopedic subspecialties:

Comprehensive orthopedic patient care is provided at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital and NYU Langone Orthopedic Center, as well as locations throughout the tristate area. Our expert orthopedic surgeons care for tens of thousands of people each year, from infants to older adults, for conditions ranging from the simplest to the most complex.

Our History

The Department of Orthopedic Surgery traces its origins to the 19th century and its long-term association with what is now NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. When Lewis Albert Sayre was appointed professor of orthopedic surgery, fractures, and dislocations at Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1853, it represented the first orthopedic professorship in North America.

Dr. Sayre held this title, and later that of professor of clinical surgery, until 1898, when Bellevue Hospital Medical College merged with University Medical College of NYU to become NYU School of Medicine. Among the distinguished graduates of the medical school are Walter Reed, the conqueror of yellow fever; Joseph Goldberger, who demonstrated the dietary origin of pellagra and its control; and Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, developers of the first effective vaccines against poliomyelitis.

The Hospital for Joint Diseases, now NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, opened in 1905 as the Jewish Hospital for Deformities and Joint Diseases. In 1979, the orthopedic section moved to its current location at 301 East 17th Street and was named the Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopedic Institute. It merged in 2006 with NYU Medical Center, now NYU Langone Health, to form a single institution and continues to make great strides in orthopedic treatment, knowledge, and innovation.