2019: A Year of Growth for Sports Medicine

The Sports Medicine and Performance Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) had an excellent year marked by program growth, research productivity and clinical excellence. A highlight of the year was the addition of Brendan Williams, MD, and Kathleen Maguire, MD, to our Division of Orthopaedics team as part of the Sports Medicine program.

Dr. Kathleen Maguire completed her fellowship training at Harvard Boston Children's Hospital and has special skills in hip arthroscopy, which is a high-demand service and a great complement to our Division's hip preservation program. Dr. Maguire also recently presented at the Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine Society conference on surgical recovery in the female athlete, and she is the surgical consultant for CHOP’s new Dance Medicine Program.

Dr. Brendan Williams completed his fellowship training at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and brings a special complement of arthroscopic skills in patients with patella instability and trochlear dysplasia. Dr. Williams is also active in research and recently accepted an invitation to present his study on concomitant meniscectomy following ligament reconstruction at the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America annual meeting. Dr. Williams also leads CHOP’s new Running Medicine Program.

Pediatric Sports Medicine Experts in Action

Our Division is proud of the leadership positions and accomplishments of the team that cares for young athletes at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Get acquainted with them below.

Our Sports Orthopaedic and Arthroscopic Surgeons

Robert Carrigan, MD, is in a position to advance to associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania later this year, and he provides a pediatric curriculum for the University of Pennsylvania and the Curtis National Hand Center. He has also recently lectured on ulnar collateral injuries of the elbow in throwing athletes.

Theodore Ganley, MD, is Director of CHOP’s Sports Medicine and Performance Center. This past year he was president of the Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine (PRiSM) Society, president of the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Society, and he is currently president of the Research in Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Knee (ROCK) Group and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Orthopaedics. He was also named editor of the American Journal of Sports Medicine Section on Pediatric Sports Medicine.

B. David Horn, MD, is addressing alignment and deformity in young athletes in his research and is currently evaluating coronal plane alignment in a series of patients with patellofemoral instability.

J. Todd Lawrence, MD, PhD, is an established sports medicine specialist. This past year, he published an article in the Journal of Bone and Joint surgery that describes the utility of a novel wrist fracture reduction simulator which he developed for teaching orthopaedic trainees. He also has submitted and accepted patents for a novel cast removal saw and for cartilage defect repair.

Apurva Shah, MD, MBA, has both published and lectured for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) on the topic of physeal injuries of the hand and upper extremity which include thrower’s shoulder and elbow as well as gymnast’s wrist. He also completed a publication addressing the collection of sports medicine patient reported outcomes via text messaging.

Lawrence Wells, MD, is the associate director of CHOP’s Sports Medicine and Performance Center. His research on minimizing opioid exposure and use following sports medicine surgery was presented at the Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine Society annual meeting.

Our Sports Medicine Pediatricians

In addition to sports medicine surgeons, we are privileged to have five sports medicine pediatricians running sports programs and covering eight different CHOP locations.

Naomi Brown, MD, is our division lead for sports medical specialists. She worked in concert with physical therapy, surgical colleagues and nutrition to create CHOP’s new Dance Medicine Program.

Matthew Grady, MD, is chair of the Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine Concussion Research Interest Group. This past year, he was honored as a new fellow for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM).

Christina Master, MD, leads CHOP’s Minds Matter Concussion Program. She has made great strides to identify objective diagnostic metrics, determine sports settings with the highest load exposures, relate rapid head rotation magnitude and direction to short-term outcomes, and elucidate biomechanical injury thresholds and age- and sex-based risk factors for concussion. She is a new fellow for the AMSSM, she was selected for the NIH grant nominating committee for PRiSM, and she is actively involved in the AMSSM collaborative network

Christopher Renjilian, MD, completed advanced training in a one-year fellowship in primary care sports medicine, as well as a second fellowship in adolescent medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He leads the effort to develop an enhanced ACL Injury Recovery Program that expands the care of young athletes with ACL injuries to include attention to nutrition, mental health and key domains of adolescent health. His research is built on a partnership with Students Run Philly Style, a community program that seeks to build understanding and lead advocacy in this arena. He is also collaborating with physical therapists and surgeons to lead the development CHOP’s new Running Medicine Program.   

Brian Vernau, MD, has a special interest in treating young athletes with medical conditions. Last year, he was instrumental in gathering a new multidisciplinary team to address unique medical and musculoskeletal needs in pediatric cancer patients and young athletes.