PHILADELPHIA — Kristy Weber, MD, chief of Orthopaedic Oncology for the University of Pennsylvania Health System and director of the Sarcoma Program in the Abramson Cancer Center, is poised to become the first woman to lead the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Weber will serve as second vice president from 2017 to 2018, as first vice president from 2018 to 2019, and she will become the Academy’s president in 2019.

The AAOS is the world’s largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists, with more than 39,000 members. The Academy provides education programs for orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals, champions and advances the highest quality musculoskeletal care for patients, and is the authoritative source of information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related issues.

Over the course of her nearly 20 year career, Weber has specialized in diagnosing and treating patients with bone of soft tissue tumors. She has also created a niche in complex limb salvage techniques around the hip, knee, shoulder and pelvis. As a result, Weber has helped patients who were facing amputation keep their extremities and continue to lead normal, self-sufficient lives.

“Having worked with Kristy for the last four years here at Penn, I have seen firsthand the unparalleled impact she has had, not only on the lives of her patients and their families, but on Penn’s orthopaedic-oncology program and our department, in such a short time,” said L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, chair of Orthopaedic Surgery and a professor of Plastic Surgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s apparent based on Kristy’s passion for patient care, her commitment to educating fellow physicians and surgeons, and her clinical and research expertise in the area of sarcoma and limb salvage, that she will continue to rise as a preeminent leader the field of orthopaedic-oncology.”

Weber, who is also a professor and vice-chair of Faculty Affairs in the department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Abramson Family Professor in Sarcoma Care Excellence, received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Weber completed her orthopaedic residency training at the University of Iowa and followed that with a two-year research and clinical fellowship in orthopaedic oncology at the Mayo Clinic. She held faculty appointments at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins, before joining the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 2013.

In addition to her clinical and research work, Weber has served on the Boards of Directors of many national orthopaedic and cancer organizations including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), American Orthopaedic Association (AOA), Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), and the Connective Tissue Oncology Society. Weber is a Past President of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society, Past President of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS), and former Secretary of the Orthopaedic Research Society. She also spent four years as Chair of the AAOS Council on Research and Quality where she oversaw initiatives related to clinical practice guidelines, evidence-based medicine, appropriate use criteria, patient safety, biomedical engineering, biological implants and the development of orthopaedic clinician-scientists.

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