Orthopedics Pioneer Joins NYU Langone Health

John G. Kennedy M.D., a pioneer in minimally invasive ankle surgery, has recently joined NYU Langone Health as the new Chief of the Foot and Ankle Division in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, and Director of the Foot and Ankle Center at NYU Langone Health.

Kennedy, professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU School of Medicine, will treat patients at the new Foot and Ankle Center located at the Joan H. & Preston Robert Tisch Center at Essex Crossing and will perform surgeries at that facility and at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital in Manhattan.

“Having a surgeon with Dr. Kennedy’s pioneering experience and skill leading our Foot and Ankle Division will benefit our patients tremendously,” said Joseph D. Zuckerman, M.D., the Walter A. L. Thompson, professor of orthopedic surgery and chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone.

“His extensive research and clinical work in arthroscopic procedures and non-operative treatments for sports foot and ankle injuries will catapult our division to a new level of excellence.”

As a leader in minimally invasive, arthroscopic treatments of cartilage injuries of the ankle and smaller joints of the foot, Kennedy will focus his time at NYU on articular cartilage injury and joint preservation.

An alumnus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. Kennedy completed his surgical fellowship and orthopedic surgery residency at University College Dublin. In 2002, he started the first subspecialty foot and ankle sports injury clinic in New York City. Prior to joining NYU Langone, he spent the past 17 years as an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical School, and an assistant attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Kennedy, and his research team, has also collaborated on National Institutes of Health research into cartilage regeneration and has been invited worldwide to speak about his work. He also serves as Co-President of the International Society on Cartilage Repair of the Ankle, which last year established the International Consensus Meeting on Cartilage Repair of the Ankle to standardize ankle cartilage treatment algorithms.

Kennedy told OTW, “I was drawn to this new leadership position because of the unique environment at NYU Langone Health’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery, where cutting edge research in an environment of academic collaboration combine to create cutting edge and innovative therapies for our patients.”

He added, “Having spent a large part of my career studying cartilage injuries, it is exciting to be working with some of the best sports medicine physicians in the world as well as have access to world class imaging. Many of the innovations in minimally invasive surgery are being spearheaded with industry collaboration at the Foot and Ankle Center. Our nonoperative therapeutics in the form of biologics and other modalities have been fined tuned to be individualized to every patient. We have access to a world class laboratory and we have published sentinel articles on the basic science as well as the clinical evidence for these treatments.

“The future looks bright for this division. We are expanding on the solid reputation of NYU Langone Health and our goal is to have a world class division within three years.”