Joshua Gary

Dr. Gary has been a leader for the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium (METRC) since the inception of his career.  METRC was established in 2009 when burden of musculoskeletal trauma debilitated our American soldiers in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  METRC’s purpose has been “to produce the evidence needed to establish treatment guidelines for the optimal care of the wounded warrior and ultimately to improve the clinical, functional and quality of life outcomes of both service members and civilians who sustain high energy trauma to the extremities.”  METRC and Dr. Gary, as a Key Investigator in the consortium, were awarded the 2023 Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award, the highest honor in orthopaedic surgery research.

During his time at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Dr. Gary built clinical research from the ground up and brought more than $4 million to the university in extramural funding.  The clinical research unit continues to thrive as a national leader in clinical research under the leadership of Dr. Stephen Warner, his hand-selected mentee and recruit.  While at the University of Southern California, Dr. Gary’s leadership established their clinical research unit with Dr. Joseph Patterson and Ms. Pui Yan and birthed award-winning unit that obtained more the $11 million in extramural funding during his five-year tenure.

Dr. Gary served as chair of the AOTrauma North America (AOTNA) Research Committee from July of 2021 through June of 2024 and represented AOTNA on the worldwide AO Trauma Research Commission, which oversees all basic science and clinical research for the AO Foundation.  He led in transforming the research program from multiple small seed grants for residents and fellows to career development awards for burgeoning researchers at various stages of training to create a network of young surgeon-scientists that are the future of orthopaedic trauma research across North America.

Dr. Gary’s involvement in this team science with METRC and other multi-center consortia will have impact on patients for decades to come and has already generated more than 150 peer-reviewed publications in some of the leading journals in all of medicine, including The Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association, and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has recently been appointed a Deputy Editor for the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, and he serves in leadership and an advisory role for the Orthopaedic Trauma Association.