Orthopaedic Surgery Department Faculty
Richard W. Nicholas, M.D.
Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery
Professor of Orthopaedics and Pathology
Director of Education ACRC
Appointment: 1989
Dr. Nicholas has developed the state's only program dedicated to the study of orthopaedic tumors. He has gained wide recognition as a specialist in limb salvage surgery in the treatment of bone and soft tissue cancers.
He serves clinical duties at both the UAMS Medical Center and the Arkansas Children's Hospital, treating adults and children afflicted with malignant and benign orthopaedic tumors. Dr. Nicholas is presently involved in developing biologic techniques to study the cells of bone and soft tissue cancers. His research interests include benign vascular malformations.
Dr. Nicholas is a member of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society, the Orthopaedic Research Society, the Children's Oncology Group, the International Society of Limb Salvage, and the Mid-America Orthopaedic Association.
James Aronson, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedics
Pediatrics Section
Appointment: 1984
Dr. Aronson graduated from Princeton University, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Duke University Orthopaedics and then Fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics at AI DuPont Institute. Following traveling fellowships in Italy, Switzerland and Germany, in 1985, Dr. Aronson performed the first leg lengthening procedure in North America using the Ilizarov method. Today, he is recognized worldwide as the leading researcher in this distraction osteogenesis technique of bone lengthening which was first developed in Russia.
Over the past 25 years, Dr. Aronson has used the Ilizarov method in hundreds of patients to salvage limbs (arms and legs) that were shortened from congenital deformity or trauma and to reconstruct complex angular deformities, osteomyelitis and non-unions in patients as young as 22 months and older than 50 who would otherwise face amputation or life-long handicaps.
He joined UAMS in 1984 and for the past 20 years has been Chief of Pediatric Orthopaedics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. He currently serves as a editor for Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.
As the 1995 recipient of the Arthur H. Huene Memorial Award presented by the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society, Dr. Aronson was only the fifth person ever honored by his colleagues in North America for making significant research contributions to the field of pediatric orthopaedics.
In 2003, he received the prestigious Nicolas Andry Award, in Paris, for his research involving fibroblast growth factor to reverse deficits in osteogenesis associated with aging.
Dr. Aronson has considerable expertise and interest in the area of pediatric and young adult hip problems, as well as, clubfoot and other pediatric foot deformities. His ongoing research in distraction osteogenesis concentrates on nutritional, hormonal and growth factors that affect bone growth.
John L. Vander Schilden, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedics
Sports Medicine Section
Appointment: 1985
John Vander Schilden, M.D., a former football player and wrestler, is the department's chief sports medicine specialist. His clinical work focuses on sports injuries and trauma, and his research activities include studying meniscal repair, biomechanics of ligaments and biomechanics of fixation devices.
Dr. Vander Schilden grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from DePauw University in 1973 with a degree in Zoology. He graduated from Rush Medical College in 1977 and completed Orthopaedic Surgery residency training programs at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida before taking a fellowship to study Trauma and Sports Medicine in Munich, Germany, in 1985.
He is a team physician for the University of Arkansas athletic departments in Fayetteville and Little Rock and a consultant to the National Football league. Dr. Vander Schilden has served as a team physician for the NCAA wrestling championships, the Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball team, and at the Olympic Training Center in 1991 at Lake Placid, New York.
R. Dale Blasier, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedics
Residency Program Director
Pediatrics Section
Appointment: 1989
Dr. Blasier specializes in treating children's sports injuries and spine deformities. He serves as vice chief of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery and director of Pediatric Orthopaedic Traumatology at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
While his primary area of research has been in the area of orthopaedic trauma, Dr. Blasier has recently focused his energies on studying absorbable implants in fracture fixation. His professional interests also include orthopaedic management of spinal deformities and neuromuscular diseases.
J. Michael Gruenwald MD FACS
Professor of Orthopaedics
Trauma Section
Appointment: 1989
Dr. Gruenwald, a native of Vienna, Austria, joined the UAMS faculty in 1989. He specializes in the treatment of pelvic and complex acetabulum fractures and dislocations. He provides orthopaedic care for patients with severe upper and lower extremity injuries. Patients who suffer from severe complications after skeletal injury, such as malunion, nonunion and osteomyelitis are an important part of his clinical practice.
Dr. Gruenwald lectures nationally and internationally. He truly loves his teaching responsibilities and has won the Dr. Selakovich Teaching Award twice. He believes that the challenging interaction with younger surgeons from different academic medical centers is important. It is these interactions that keep us senior surgeons on the cutting edge of orthopaedic development, Gruenwald says.
Dr. Gruenwald, who has been published in the field of orthopedic trauma, is senior adviser to several European and American scientific journals. He has gained the prestigious Best Doctors in America recognition twice. In 2006 he was nominated Chairman of the Governors Council on Trauma in Arkansas.
Ruth L. Thomas, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedics
Director of the Center for Foot and Ankle Surgery
Appointment: 1989
Dr. Thomas is a fellowship trained foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon and the Director of the Center for Foot and Ankle Surgery at UAMS.
A graduate of the University of Central Arkansas in 1978, Dr. Thomas served as a physical therapist at Arkansas Children's Hospital from 1979 to 1980, working with spina bifida patients. She then returned to school to earn a medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1984. Her transitional internship and orthopaedic surgery residency training were also completed at UAMS. Dr. Greer Richardson directed her foot and ankle fellowship training at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tennessee in 1992.
Her clinical practice provides complete foot and ankle care encompassing all aspects of patient care from treating corns and calluses to performing complicated foot reconstructions. Her research interests include biomechanical alterations related to various hind foot fusions and reconstructive procedures.
Dr. Thomas is a member of the American Medical Association and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. She is certified in both Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support.
Richard E. McCarthy, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedics
Pediatrics Section
Appointment: 2008
Dr. McCarthy grew up in New York earning his medical degree from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. His orthopaedic residency was done at the Harvard Combined Training Program after completing preliminary training in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital and general surgery at Tufts New England Medical Center.
He completed fellowships in both pediatric orthopaedics and scoliosis at Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts . He is actively involved in research in the care of spinal deformities in children traveling internationally lecturing on these principles. He currently is President-Elect of the Scoliosis Research Society, an international group whose primary goal is to teach the principles and techniques of care of the patient with spinal deformities.
Dr. McCarthy is a member of several specialty study groups on
spinal deformity, as well as the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America,
the North American Spine Society, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons. He has been voted one of the best doctors in America since 2001. He is
a reviewer for the
Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics. He originally joined the staff at UAMS
and ACH in 1981 and has recently returned to academic medicine after 20 years in
private practice. He is Professor and Chief of Spinal Deformities in the
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UAMS and Arkansas Children?s Hospital.
Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics
Orthopaedic Oncology Appointment: 2010 Dr. Montgomery has joined
the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery as an Assistant Professor and orthopaedic
oncologist. Dr. Montgomery received his medical degree from the University of
Tennessee School of Medicine in Memphis in 2004. He completed his residency in
orthopaedic surgery at UAMS, winning the Orthopaedic Outstanding Resident
Teaching Award and the Carl L. Nelson Leadership Award in 2009. Dr. Montgomery
completed a fellowship in musculoskeletal oncology at the University of
Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital this year. Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics Hip and Knee Section Appointment: 2000 Dr. Sward is a native Arkansan, born in Stuttgart. After attending Arkansas
State University, he graduated from UAMS with a B.S. in Medical Technology in
1965 and an M.D. in 1969. Following an internship at St. John's Hospital,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Sward served three years as a flight surgeon in the Air
Force. He was stationed primarily at Luke AFB, Arizona and later as a
flight surgeon for the USAF Aerial Demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. He began his residency in orthopaedics at UAMS under Dr. Don Kettelkamp in
1973 and finished under Dr. Carl Nelson in 1976. He was appointed as a
Clinical Instructor in 1977 and in 1978 became an Assistant Professor of
Orthopaedics. Dr. Sward subsequently entered solo private practice in Mountain
Home, Arkansas where, in addition to general orthopaedics, he concentrated on
joint replacements. In 2000, Dr. Sward joined the UAMS Orthopaedic Department and became Chief of
the Orthopaedic Section at Central Arkansas Veteran's Health Care System. He is a fellow of AAOS, a member of AAHKS (American Association of Hip & Knee
Surgeons), President-elect of the Arkansas Orthopaedic Society, a member of AMA
and the Arkansas Medical Society.
Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery
Appointment:
2005 Dr. Pramod Nelluri is Chief of the Hand Surgery section at Central Arkansas
Veterans Health Care System and staff hand surgeon at Arkansas Children's
Hospital. Dr. Nelluri did his residency training in Plastic
Surgery at Osmania University, India. Later following his internship at The
University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, he served a fellowship
in Hand & Microsurgery at Christine M Kleinert Institute, Louisville, KY. Dr
Nelluri is a trained Micro-surgeon having completed a year training at McMaster
University, Ontario, Canada. Recently he completed a Hand/Upper extremity
fellowship here a UAMS under Dr. Randy Bindra. Dr. Nelluri specializes and treats all
disorders of hand and elbow. Presently, he holds a faculty position at UAMS as
an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is the
recipient of the Walter G. Selakovich
Faculty Teaching Award for his outstanding contribution to the training of the
orthopaedic chief resident staff in 2008.
His research interests include, peripheral nerve regeneration, stability of
fracture fixation in hands and tendon healing. Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics Center for Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery Appointment: 2009 Dr. Wyrick-Glover, M.D., is an orthopaedic surgeon at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Arkansas Children's
Hospital (ACH). She is an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery in the College of Medicine at UAMS. Dr. Wyrick graduated suma cum laude from the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science
in Biology. She graduated with honors from UAMS in 2003 where she was a
member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. Upon completion of a
residency in orthopaedic surgery at UAMS in 2008, she received the Carl
Nelson Resident Leadership Award. She completed her fellowship in hand
and upper extremity surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July 2009. She is a native of Little
Rock, Arkansas. She specializes in nerve injuries of the upper
extremity including nerve compressions such as carpal tunnel and cubital
tunnel syndromes. She also treats arthritic conditions of the elbow,
wrist and hand. She offers treatment of traumatic injuries to the upper
extremity as well as other complex reconstructive surgeries of the arm. Dr. Wyrick is a member of the American Society for
Surgery of the Hand and the American Association for Hand Surgery. She
has completed research in the areas of brachial plexus surgery and
distal radius fractures. She has authored several textbook chapters on
arthritic conditions of the upper extremity and has lectured at local,
state and regional meetings on various topics related to upper extremity
surgery. Instructor of Orthopaedics General Orthopaedic Surgery Appointment: 2009 Dr. Wilson has joined the Department of Orthopaedics as an
instructor. After almost two years of retirement, he missed treating patients
and has joined the team at UAMS to triage patients with a variety of orthopaedic
problems. Dr. Wilson went to medical school at UAMS, did his internship at
Indiana University School of Medicine at Marion County General Hospital, then
returned to UAMS for his residency, and is board certified in orthopaedic
surgery. He then went to practice at Ortho Arkansas where he worked for 38
years until he retired in February 2007. Dr. Wilson is an instrument rated
pilot with
over 5,000 flight hours, volunteers at the Arts Center, serves on two of UALR's
Boards, and still plays basketball three mornings a week. Instructor of Orthopaedics General Orthopaedic Surgery Appointment: 2011 Dr. Mark Bailey, M.D., has joined the Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery as an Instructor in general orthopaedic surgery. Dr. Bailey
received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
in 2006. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at UAMS in 2011.
Professor of Orthopaedics and
Physiology and Biophysics. Director of the
Center for Orthopaedic Research Appointment: 2000
Larry Suva is director of
The Center for Orthopaedic Research at UAMS. He is well-known internationally for his research work and has a broad scientific background gathered from years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (Genentech Inc., Merck, GlaxoSmithKline ) as well as 5 years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. Meet our John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital Orthopaedics group.
From Left to right: Ashley Ross, MD, Karen Seale, MD, David Sward, MD, Laurie Hughes, MD, Pramod
Nelluri, MD
Updated 8/1/2011
Corey Montgomery, M.D.
David T. Sward, M.D.
Pramod Nelluri, M.D.
Theresa Wyrick-Glover, M.D.
John L. Wilson, M.D.
Mark Bailey, M.D.
Shahryar Ahmadi, MD, FRCSC
Assistant Professor
Shoulder and Elbow Section
Appointment: 2011
Dr. Ahmadi has joined
the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery as an Assistant Professor and
Director of the Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Center. He received his
medical degree from the Tehran University of Medicine Sciences in 1994.
Dr. Ahmadi completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the
University of Toronto, Canada in 2010. He completed fellowships in
adult reconstruction and upper extremity at the Mayo Clinic Rochester,
Minnesota this year.
Dr. Ahmadi holds patents for an
arthroscopic surgery device and for a reconstructive surgery device. He
has just completed a book chapter for “Current Management of Shoulder
and Elbow Trauma”
Larry J. Suva, Ph.D.
Dr. Suva grew up in Melbourne, Australia (playing cricket), and graduated from Swinburne Institute of Technology in 1981. He subsequently completed his Ph.D. in Medicine at the
University of Melbourne in 1989.
He relocated to the US in 1989, and is now a permanent resident.
His research interests include the anabolic stimulation of bone formation,
mechanical regulation on bone and cartilage function and the pathogenesis of
breast cancer metastasis to bone. He is currently serves as chair of the
Science Policy Committee of the
American Society for Bone and Mineral
Research (ASBMR)
