UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

A message from our Chair:

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Celina de Borja has been appointed as Medical Director of the UCSF PlaySafe Sports Medicine Program. Dr. de Borja brings extensive expertise in pediatric and adolescent sports medicine, along with a strong commitment to injury prevention and health equity for youth athletes.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. de Borja as she leads this vital community-based program that supports the health and safety of student-athletes across the Bay Area. We also extend our sincere gratitude to Dr. Anthony Luke for his remarkable 23 years of leadership and dedication to PlaySafe.

Thank you for your ongoing support of this important program.

Warmly,

C. Benjamin Ma, MD
Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Dr. Peter and Sophie Pappas Endowed Chair
V-nee Yeh Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
University of California, San Francisco

Congratulations to Dr. Natalie Stash for completing her hand and upper extremity surgery fellowship! Thank you, Dr. Stash!

We are delighted to share that Dr. Jennifer Amica Cohn joins us as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She will serve as the Chief of Rehabilitation Services at both Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital.

Dr. Cohn is a board-certified physiatrist with specialized expertise in brain injury rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, and cancer rehabilitation. She brings more than a decade of experience leading high-functioning, multidisciplinary teams across inpatient and outpatient settings. At Laguna Honda, she has already made significant contributions, including launching hospital-wide walking rounds for patients with infectious diseases and leading efforts to create a restraint-free environment.

Her clinical leadership is matched by a strong research foundation. Dr. Cohn has presented nationally on caregiver preparedness and inpatient brain injury rehabilitation. She has also conducted global health work in Uganda and contributed to foundational research on spinal cord injury outcomes.

Welcome, Dr. Cohn!

Congratulations to Dr. Justin Jabara for completing his Sports and Shoulder Surgery Fellowship! Thank you, Dr. Jabara!

It’s August 1st! We are pleased to formally announce that Dr. Anthony Ding has been appointed as director of the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery residency program, effective today.

A UCSF residency graduate, Dr. Ding is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with dual fellowship training in orthopaedic trauma and in hand, upper extremity and microvascular surgery. He joined the UCSF faculty in 2018 and currently serves patients at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Dr. Ding succeeds Dr. Hubert Kim, who led the residency program for 21 years.

Check out the full story through the link in our bio🔗

UCSF Orthopaedic Surgery Ranks No. 6 in the Nation, Best in Northern California!

In the 2025–26 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings, UCSF Orthopaedics was ranked No. 6 nationally and Best in Northern California — a reflection of our commitment to exceptional clinical care, groundbreaking research, and innovative education.

UCSF Health also tied for the No. 1 hospital in California and ranked No. 1 in the San Francisco Metro Area.

This recognition reflects the dedication, innovation, and collaboration that define our department every day.

Full story: Visit the link in our bio.

Congratulations to Dr. Asra Toobiae for completing her Spine Surgery Fellowship! Thank you, Dr. Toobiae!

We are pleased to welcome our 2025-2026 T32 MSK Training Program fellows. This program, made possible by NIH/NIAMS funding, supports training postdocs and residents dedicated to advancing musculoskeletal science. Their work addresses critical gaps in our understanding of musculoskeletal diseases, which affect a majority of the population and remain a leading cause of disability.

Dr. Michael Davies, alongside Dr. Brian Feeley and Dr. Robert Tashjian, has been awarded a $500,000 multicenter research grant from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and the Arthritis Foundation! This is the largest grant that AOSSM has offered!

Their project, “Defining the Molecular Signature of Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis Using a Multi-Omic Approach,” will harness advanced genetic and proteomic tools to better understand, and ultimately improve care for, shoulder arthritis.

A huge congratulations to Drs. Davies and Feeley of UCSF, Dr. Tashjian of U of U, and their collaborators on this national recognition and continued leadership in musculoskeletal research.

Read the full story through the link in our bio 🔗

We would like to express our deepest appreciation for the exceptional administrative staff who keep our department running!

The combined effort of this team is the backbone of everything we do. From research to education, from clinic to outreach, this core ensures that all Ts are crossed and all Is are dotted. Thank you for your dedication, hard work, and heart.

Top photo: academic admin staff lunch
Bottom photo: research staff at a baseball outing

Congratulations to our incoming resident class! Have a great last year of medical school. We can’t wait to work with all of you ⚕️🩺🦴