Thanks to the generous support of more than 110 donors, the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation has successfully created the first sports medicine endowed professorship at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The Dr. William G. Clancy Jr. Professorship in Sports Medicine will honor the achievements of a true pioneer and innovator, perpetuate his spirit of inclusion, and advance our mission to educate future leaders in the field.

Together with the $500,000 matching gift from the Herman and Gwen Shapiro Foundation, our total raised to date is over $1,254,000! This endowed professorship will provide annual research funding in perpetuity to the physician-educator-researcher who will hold the Clancy Award.

We have reached our goal through the incredible generosity of Dr. Clancy’s former trainees, mentees, colleagues, and friends. What a testament to his impact on the field of sports medicine! As Chair of the Department and a former Clancy resident, please accept my sincerest gratitude for your generous support.

You have made this professorship a reality.

Tamara Scerpella, MD
Chair, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation
Chief, Division of Sports Medicine
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Clancy is humbled, grateful, and excited. We cannot wait to celebrate this well-deserved honor for him and an important milestone for our institution at a donor appreciation event in spring 2025. If you would like to add your support for this groundbreaking professorship, we invite you to make a gift here.

On Wisconsin!

Timothy McGuine, PhD, a distinguished scientist in the Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation. Photo: Bryce Richter

Each year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison recognizes outstanding academic staff members who have excelled in leadership, public service, research and teaching. Timothy McGuine is one of those exceptional individuals who brings the university’s mission to life and ensures that the Wisconsin Idea extends far beyond the campus and the state.

April 26, 2024 – Timothy McGuine, PhD, began his career as an athletic trainer and remains one at heart. His “on the sidelines” expertise imbues everything he researches, contributing to his national reputation as an expert on injury prevention in adolescent athletes.

McGuine’s 81 peer-reviewed papers address some of the most pressing issues facing young sports participants, from reducing concussions and ankle injuries to the efficacy of football helmets and soccer headgear.

Recently, he took a leading role in researching the impact of youth sports participation on overall health during the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming among the first to present on this emerging topic.

One of McGuine’s most important contributions has come in the standard he has set for clinical field research. His multi-site studies take place at the point of injury and at the point of care. McGuine’s studies also have had a profound impact on professional clinical practice — one ankle injury and balance intervention study, for example, has been cited over 1,500 times.

“Tim is nationally recognized for his contributions to adolescent sports medicine, which grew out of his background as an athletic trainer. His models have set new standards for research, and his widely cited work has informed safety policy in high school sports. Tim founded the Wisconsin Sports Injury Research Network, which partners with schools around the state to gather data on athletic training interventions that’s led to some important innovations — for example, he has conducted the largest injury prevention studies for sports injuries ever undertaken in his profession — resulting in new strategies used by medical providers across the country.

The working relationships Tim has developed with schools have helped him advance discovery on other health challenges, like researching the impact of youth sports participation on overall health during the Covid-19 pandemic. And his service on national medical advisory committees for high school sports brings a valuable research perspective to policy decisions.”

– Jennifer Mnookin, PhD, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison

“Dr. McGuine has crisscrossed the state, time and time again, putting thousands of miles on his car in an effort to educate high school athletes, their parents, athletic directors and athletic trainers regarding his population-based studies and the impact they would have on the participants and on the lives of others.”

– Tamara A. Scerpella, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation

Excerpted and adapted from an article that originally appeared on news.wisc.edu.

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UW Orthopedics Trauma Team – L to R: Christopher Domes, MD, Paul Whiting, MD, Gabrielle Kuhn, MD (former Ortho Trauma research coordinator), Christopher Doro, MD, Gerald Lang, MD, and Jacquelyn Dunahoe, MD

Earlier this fall, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health’s orthopedic trauma research team, led by Paul Whiting, MD, received the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium (METRC) “Implementation and Data Quality All-Star Award”. The award was announced and presented at the Orthopedic Trauma Association’s 39th Annual Meeting held in Seattle, Washington, on October 19-21, 2023.

Established in 2009, METRC represents a large multi-center research collaborative. As part of the METRC network, dozens of major trauma centers nationwide participate in large-scale research projects aimed at improving outcomes following orthopedic trauma injuries in both the civilian and military populations.

The UW team’s METRC All-Star Award was given in recognition of the team’s “exemplary efforts to implement METRC studies with fidelity to the protocol, well-established and thoughtful local procedures, and clear attention to data completeness and data quality.”

UW has been a participating site for more than a decade and, to date, has been a part of more than ten METRC studies. Patients undergoing treatment for a variety of orthopedic trauma injuries are eligible for participation. These patients are screened and enrolled by the UW orthopedic trauma faculty members and the team’s research coordinator. Outcome data are recorded following surgical treatment and at regularly scheduled follow-up visits. Maintaining the highest level of data integrity, ensuring high rates of follow-up, and accurate data collection are critical to the success of this research consortium.

UW is proud to be an active participant in METRC and honored to be recognized for our efforts.

July 25, 2023 – Tamara A. Scerpella, MD, a nationally renowned orthopedic surgeon, academic leader, mentor, and researcher, becomes the next chair of the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health on July 30, 2023.

Scerpella has provided leadership for the clinical and academic programs in the department in prior roles, having served as chief of its Division of Sports Medicine, vice chair, senior vice chair, and interim chair. She has emphasized exceptional patient care while advancing the department’s residency and fellowship programs, research enterprise, and faculty development initiatives.

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May 30, 2023 – Scott Crawford, PhD, an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin Departments of Kinesiology at the School of Education and Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the School of Medicine and Public Health, was recently awarded a KL2 Scholar Program grant; he will officially begin the program in July 2023. Funded by the NIH through the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), the KL2 Scholar Program supports “junior faculty at UW Madison pursuing and actively engaged in translational research and who are committed to developing an independent research program.” Crawford’s KL2 grant will provide him with two years of protected time for research and career development training – allowing him to delve into novel ideas and emerge as a leader in the field.

His current research project, “Neuroplasticity in Muscle Mechanics Following Hamstring Injury: A Combined fMRI and Ultrasound Study,” will investigate the neural changes that occur after hamstring injuries. Crawford says that, while we have gotten good at diagnosing and identifying the progression of hamstring injuries and returning athletes to their sport, “re-injury rates are still very high.” Most studies show as high as 1 in 3 will go on to re-injure – though some show re-injuries as high as 60% or more.

By examining muscle tissue mechanics using ultrasound and brain activity using fMRI, Crawford hopes to uncover if altered brain activity following a recent hamstring strain injury may be related to why re-injury rates for hamstring strains remain high, despite advancements in rehabilitation protocols. The study is still in the piloting stage, where Dr. Crawford and his team are refining their methodology before enrolling participants.

Before coming to UW, Dr. Crawford earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cedarville University in Ohio and his Master’s and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He joined the UW as an NIH-funded TL1 Post-Doctoral Trainee under Dr. Bryan Heiderscheit in January 2019 – later transitioning to a faculty position in the Kinesiology Department with a joint appointment in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation in August 2022.

Dr. Crawford’s educational background in biomedical engineering and biomechanics and his work in the Badger Athletics Performance Lab shaped his interdisciplinary approach to studying sport-related muscle injury. Further, as Dr. Crawford pursues the focused study afforded by his KL2 grant, he says that the symbiotic relationship between research investigators across different academic departments, clinicians, and surgeons at UW allows him to “collaborate with people like Dr. Heiderscheit, [the Badger Athletics Performance Program], and other orthopedic faculty members” and find “common ground” that will ultimately translate research findings into impactful treatments for patients.