Current Environment:

Medical Services

Specialties

Programs & Services

Languages

  • English

Education

Medical School

Tufts University School of Medicine

1976, Boston, MA

Internship

Maine Medical Center

1977, Portland, ME

Residency

New England Medical Center

1981, Boston, MA

Fellowship

Aldred I. Dupont Institute

1982, Wilmington, DE

Certifications

  • American Board of Orthopedic Surgery (General)

Professional History

Dr. James R. Kasser is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, working at Boston Children’s Hospital for the past 33 years. He is the Ormandy Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kasser’s primary clinical focus has been on lower extremity congenital abnormalities and trauma. His academic work has focused on clinical research related to orthopedic practice.

He is presently the Surgeon-in-Chief and has served in this capacity for seven years. He was the Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery from 1994-2013. Nationally, he has served as the President of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) and been on the boards of both POSNA and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). He served as a director of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery for 10 years and was president of that accrediting organization in 2011. He is presently on the boards of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Media

Answers Blog

Generations of excellence in lower extremity care: Dr. Kasser and Dr. May

Answers Blog

Limb-lengthening surgery: A look at the pros and cons

Publications

I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, the second of four children and the son of an engineer. Following completion of high school, I earned a degree in mechanical engineering at Lehigh University. Rather than return to Pittsburgh to pursue an engineering career in the metals industry, I switched to bioengineering and then to medicine, moving to Boston in 1972 and attending Tufts University School of Medicine. It was at Tufts that I was exposed to Dr. Henry Banks and a number of outstanding orthopedic surgery mentors who set me on a career in academic orthopedic surgery.

After completing my residency, I did a fellowship at DuPont Institute in Wilmington, DE. Rather than being enthralled with the rapidly developing innovations in total joint reconstruction and arthroscopy, I was motivated by caring for young children with congenital deformities, growth abnormalities and leg length differences.