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Dr. Jo A. Hannafin, a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and at the hospital’s Physician Office in Greenwich, will head the 3,042-member society, which is an international organization of orthopedic surgeons and other allied health professionals dedicated to sports medicine.
Founded in 1972, the society is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship.
“It’s the largest sports medicine society in the world, and I’m very excited to have been chosen as president,” Hannafin said in a statement.
As president, she is responsible for overseeing the organization’s annual meeting and sports subspecialty meeting.
Her goals as president are to further strengthen the organization and to ensure it offers innovative and intellectually challenging annual and subspecialty meetings that are well attended.
“Ultimately, the hope is that at the end of the year, the organization is stronger than when you took the helm,” she said in the statement.
Hannafin, who specializes in sports medicine, is director of orthopedic research at Hospital for Special Surgery, as well as its orthopedic director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center. The center, which Hannafin founded with Dr. Lisa Callahan in 1997, was the first of its kind in the United States.
?Her choice was praised by several colleagues.
“Hospital for Special Surgery takes pride in the achievements of Dr. Hannafin, and we are delighted to congratulate her on her new position,” said Lou Shapiro, president and CEO of Hospital for Special Surgery, in a statement. “Dr. Hannafin is a trailblazer. She was the first clinician scientist at Hospital for Special Surgery, as well as a highly respected orthopedic surgeon and scientist on both a national and international level.”
"It is only fitting that Dr. Hannafin is the first woman to be elected president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. She has been a leader throughout her whole career,” said Dr. Scott Rodeo, co-chief of the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at Hospital for Special Surgery, in a statement. “She was a world-class athlete herself and one of the first women to complete a sports medicine fellowship, during which time she was the first woman to work with an NFL team as a fellow. Her combination of wisdom, skill and grace will lead the prestigious AOSSM to new heights.”
Hannafin is the head team physician for the Women’s National Basketball Association's New York Liberty. A lifelong rower and a physician for the U.S. Olympic rowing team, she also serves as a team physician for the U.S. Rowing Team.
She was a three-time national rowing champion and silver medalist at the 1984 World Championships.
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