Lisa L. Lattanza, M.D., FAOFA, was recently presented with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ Diversity Award at the 2021 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
The Diversity Award recognizes Academy members who have committed themselves to making orthopedics more accessible to diverse patient populations.
An associate of Lattanza’s, Amy L. Ladd, M.D., FAAOS, said Lattanza also mentors current and the next generation of orthopedic surgeons to improve inclusion in orthopedic surgery as well.
She co-founded the Perry Initiative which is named for her mentor Dr. Jacquelin Perry. The initiative has three main components: the Perry Outreach Program, a one-day career exploration for young women who may be interested in careers in orthopedic surgery, engineering, or both; the Medical Student Outreach Program, a hands-on experience for first- and second-year women medical students; and Orthopaedics in Action, which teaches science with an emphasis on orthopedic surgery in junior high and high school classrooms.
Almost half of the participants in the Perry Outreach Program and the Medical Student Outreach Program are under-represented minorities.
“The Perry Initiative with its breadth of workshops introduces and inspires high school, college, and medical students to pursue STEM-oriented careers, with the ultimate goal of changing the face of orthopedics and bioengineering to one that is more diverse in gender, ethnic, and racial representation,” Ladd said.
“With guidance from Dr. Lattanza, these highly effective pipeline programs—exposing young women to successful surgeons and engineers—have a track record that broadcasts the enthusiasms of the young lives that are forever changed from the experience.”
The Perry Programs are held at least annually in 38 states and have reached more than 14,000 young women. Typically, only about 1% of women medical studies ultimately choose orthopedics, but nearly 25% of medical students who are Perry alumni do.
Lattanza is currently the president of The Perry Initiative. She is also chair of the department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation at the Yale School of Medicine and professor of orthopaedic surgery there.
Prior to this, she was a member of the faculty at the University of California San Francisco for 20 years. There she was the vice chair of diversity, chief of hand and upper extremity surgery and hand fellowship director.
She has also partnered with Nth Dimensions, J. Robert Gladden Society, the American Association of Latino Orthopaedic Surgeons and has led diversity efforts and programs through the American Orthopaedic Association where she spent time as diversity liaison to the Critical Issues Committee.
Lattanza also lead a team to perform the first elbow-to-elbow transplant in 2016. She participates every year in the National Caucus on Healthcare Disparities in Musculoskeletal Care and has served on its steering committee.
She is past president of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, served as a member of the AAOS Diversity Advisory Board and does both domestic and international outreach work.
She is also a member of the International Orthopaedic Diversity Association and the newly formed Women in Orthopaedics Worldwide.
“It is an honor and privilege to receive this award and be recognized for doing work that I am completely committed to and passionate about,” Lattanza said.
“I became chair, in part, to have more of an impact on the culture of orthopaedic surgery and to make it more welcoming and equitable for everyone.”
Another colleague of hers, Thomas Parker Vail, M.D. of University of California, San Francisco had this to say; “Dr. Lattanza is an exceptional leader and champion of diversity. Her commitment to the profession, her colleagues, and her patients shines through each and every day.”
Lattanza received her medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio—now the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences—and completed an internship at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She went on to complete her residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Missouri Kansas City and fellowships in hand surgery at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons/Roosevelt Hospital, and one in pediatric hand and upper extremity at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas.
