The appointments were framed by department leadership as a strategic investment in the future of the program. Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health and the Walter A.L. Thompson Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, described the three new hires as exceptional surgeons, researchers, and educators whose expertise will be instrumental in shaping the next chapter at NYU Langone Orthopedics. Laith M. Jazrawi, MD, chief of the Division of Sports Medicine and the Neil B. Hamburger Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, emphasized that Dr. Gwathmey will play a central role in establishing the Hip Preservation and Hip Arthroscopy Center and advancing innovative approaches to patient care, while Dr. Strickland and Dr. Gomoll bring extraordinary expertise in the treatment of knee and other joint injuries. In his view, the ability to attract top talent in these key areas reinforces the institution’s standing as a destination for people seeking orthopedic care.

The institutional context matters. NYU Langone is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report, and it operates the largest orthopedic residency program in the country. The department also runs leading programs in sports medicine, pediatric orthopedics, joint replacement, and musculoskeletal oncology. More broadly, NYU Langone Health has been ranked No. 1 among 122 comprehensive academic medical centers by Vizient Inc. for five consecutive years, a distinction tied to rigorous quality metrics and some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Against that backdrop, the addition of three senior surgeons with national reputations is less a rebuild than an escalation, extending the program’s reach into subspecialties where demand from aging and increasingly athletic populations continues to grow.

Dr. Strickland, a nationally recognized sports medicine surgeon, arrives from the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, where she has practiced for more than two decades. Her clinical focus spans knee cartilage repair, patellar stabilization, ACL and meniscus surgery, and joint preservation, the full spectrum of problems that affect the kneecap and the surfaces that allow it to glide smoothly. The Center for Patellofemoral Disorders that she will lead is explicitly new, created to concentrate care for injuries that cause knee pain and progressive deterioration. She described herself as honored to join the NYU Langone orthopedics community and its world-class researchers and physicians, noting her excitement about joining an institution that functions as an engine to move orthopedic clinical trials forward while also offering top-notch specialists across all areas of medicine.

One of the most technically interesting threads in Dr. Strickland’s work involves 3D-printed models of human joints. Most biomechanical research is performed on so-called normal joints harvested from cadavers, which means many standard surgical techniques are not optimized for patients whose bone structure is unique or abnormal. By printing replicas of joints that reflect the natural variation in bone shapes seen in the clinic, she can study anatomy that better matches real patients and use those models to refine surgical techniques in ways that lead to better outcomes. The approach reflects a broader shift in orthopedics toward patient-specific planning, in which imaging data is translated into physical or digital models that surgeons can test before ever entering the operating room. For conditions like patellar instability, where subtle differences in bone alignment can determine whether an operation succeeds, that kind of preparation can be decisive.

Dr. Gwathmey, the incoming director of the Hip Preservation and Hip Arthroscopy Center, is a preeminent figure in a field that he argues remains underappreciated. He is known for using minimally invasive arthroscopic techniques to evaluate the hip joint, treat damaged tissue, and correct structural problems that contribute to pain and dysfunction before they worsen. He comes to NYU Langone from the University of Virginia Health System, where he established the hip arthroscopy and preservation program in 2013 and built it into one of the region’s highest-volume centers. He has explained his attraction to the subspecialty by noting that the hip is both essential and underrecognized, and that arthroscopic hip surgery is a rapidly evolving field whose potential lies in identifying and treating joint and cartilage injuries before they progress, a philosophy of early intervention that mirrors the joint-preservation ethos of his new colleagues.

His training traces a path through many of the field’s foundational programs. Dr. Gwathmey earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia and his medical degree at Eastern Virginia Medical School, completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Virginia Health System, and then undertook a fellowship in orthopedic sports medicine and shoulder surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He pursued additional fellowship training in Nashville, Tennessee, with Dr. Thomas Byrd, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of hip arthroscopy. Most recently he served as vice chair for education and director of the orthopedic surgery residency program at the University of Virginia, and as a professor of sports medicine there he earned multiple teaching honors, including the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Medical Student Teaching. That educational background matters for NYU Langone, which trains more orthopedic residents than any other program in the United States.

Dr. Gomoll, co-director of the Knee Preservation Center, brings one of the broadest clinical portfolios of the three. He will treat the full spectrum of knee problems, from ACL tears, patellar instability, and meniscus injuries in young athletes to cartilage defects and early arthritis in middle-aged patients, and he performs partial joint replacement for older adults alongside minimally invasive techniques to evaluate the knee, treat damaged tissue, and correct structural problems. He joins from the Hospital for Special Surgery, where he has been an attending surgeon specializing in joint preservation and sports medicine since 2018 and a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is double board certified in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine, and before HSS he was faculty at Harvard Medical School from 2006, directing the Orthopaedic Program within the Regenerative Medicine Institute at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Gomoll is also a prolific researcher, having co-authored more than 170 publications and earned international recognition for his work in cartilage repair and knee preservation. His familiarity with emerging devices includes experience with the MISHA Knee System, a shock-absorbing knee implant that received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2023, an example of the kind of innovative technology he is expected to bring into the program. His stated philosophy blends science, care, and teaching, and he has emphasized that physician care is not only about performing surgery but also about guiding patients and helping them feel supported throughout the process. Together with Dr. Strickland’s focus on the patellofemoral joint and Dr. Gwathmey’s leadership in hip preservation, his arrival rounds out a leadership team that covers the major weight-bearing joints with an unusually unified commitment to preserving them.

Taken together, the three appointments underscore NYU Langone’s stated commitment to comprehensive, innovative care for athletes and active individuals at every level, from everyday athletes to elite competitors. The timing reflects larger currents in orthopedic medicine: populations that remain active later in life, growing evidence that early correction of structural joint problems can delay or prevent arthritis, and rapid technical advances in arthroscopy, cartilage repair, and implant design. By concentrating internationally recognized expertise in hip preservation, knee preservation, and patellofemoral disorders under one roof, and by pairing clinical care with a large residency program and an active clinical trials enterprise, NYU Langone is positioning itself at the forefront of a discipline whose central promise is simple and increasingly achievable, helping people keep their own joints healthy for decades longer than previous generations could expect.

Subject of Research: Leadership appointments in orthopedic sports medicine and joint preservation centers for hip and knee conditions at NYU Langone

Article Title: NYU Langone welcomes top orthopedic surgeons to lead key treatment centers for hip and knee conditions

Article References: NYU Langone welcomes top orthopedic surgeons to lead key treatment centers for hip and knee conditions. (n.d.). Original publication

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: NYU Langone, orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, hip preservation, hip arthroscopy, knee preservation, patellofemoral disorders, cartilage repair, ACL surgery, joint preservation, 3D-printed joint models, MISHA Knee System