URMC Orthopaedics Chair Selected for Key National Advisory Position

Regis O’Keefe, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, has been appointed to the prestigious NIH Council of Councils.

The National Institutes of Health council was established to advise the NIH director on priorities, strategic planning, and policy matters that extend beyond the research agenda of any specific area of health or medicine.

“The wealth of expertise brought by these individuals will enhance the council's ability to achieve its mission by offering a diversity of perspectives and talents. Collectively the council will inform our approach to broad research initiatives shared across NIH and not limited to a single National Institute Center,” said James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), which was established as part of the NIH Reform Act of 2006.

The Council of Councils is made up of 27 members, 20 of whom were selected this year. O’Keefe, the Marjorie Strong Wehle Professor in Orthopaedics was nominated by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. His council term extends to Oct., 31, 2013. at URMC,

O’Keefe is a Harvard Medical School graduate and surgeon who specializes in orthopaedic oncology, or tumors of the bone, joints, and soft tissue, as well as adult reconstructive surgery and caring for patients with fragility fractures due to osteoporosis and osteopenia. He earned a doctorate in biochemistry at the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry, and also serves as director of the URMC Center for Musculoskeletal Research.