Orthopaedic surgeon Karol completes national leadership role
By Ron Durham
Dr. Lori A. Karol, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center, exemplifies the rapidly changing landscape in pediatric orthopaedics. Dr. Karol recently completed a groundbreaking term as the first female President of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA), and says more and more women are entering the field of pediatric orthopaedic surgery.
“When I was an orthopaedic resident, I was the only woman in my program for the majority of my training,” said Dr. Karol, who also serves as Assistant Chief of Staff at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. “Now, approximately half of the applicants to our pediatric orthopaedic fellowship program at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital are females, and these women now are becoming candidate members of POSNA.
“My hope is that they all will be full participants in POSNA, and will be considered for board and leadership positions in the future. POSNA is a very forward-thinking society. Currently there are four women serving on the board of directors, myself included.”
Dr. Dane Wukich, Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Southwestern, said, “Dr. Karol’s career has simply been outstanding, and UT Southwestern and the children of North Texas are very fortunate that she chose to remain at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital after completion of her fellowship.
“If you were to define the term ‘academic orthopaedic surgeon,’ Dr. Karol would be the prototype. She has been a tremendous clinician, researcher, leader, and mentor to both women and men who choose to train in orthopaedic surgery.”
Dr. Karol also is Medical Director of Performance Improvement and the Movement Science Lab at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, one of UT Southwestern’s affiliated health care institutions. Texas Scottish Rite Hospital is a charitable institution operated by the Scottish Rite Bodies of Texas, provides inpatient and outpatient care at no charge to children with orthopaedic or neurological challenges, as well as dyslexia and other learning disorders. UT Southwestern performs teaching and clinical services there in several fields, including orthopaedics, neurology, pediatrics, prosthetics-orthotics, anesthesiology, and radiology.
Dr. Karol earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan. She completed the Harrington Fellowship of Pediatric Orthopaedics and Scoliosis at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in 1991, and joined the staff there in 1994. She specializes in scoliosis research, with a focus on early onset scoliosis. In 2011, Dr. Karol won the Arthur Huene Memorial Award from POSNA for published research on clubfoot.
“The most rewarding aspect of treating children is their incredible optimism and desire to recover,” she said. “I thoroughly enjoy treating teenage girls with scoliosis, and not only helping them recover from spine surgery, but seeing them dance, play the violin, and run the soccer field again. My practice spans from birth to 18 years. I enjoy treating infants with hip dislocations and clubfeet. It is very fulfilling to see these babies grow into active children in part due to the orthopaedic treatment they receive.”
Dr. Karol is the third TSRHC surgeon from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital to lead POSNA, joining Dr. J.A. “Tony” Herring, Chief of Staff Emeritus, and Dr. B. Stephens “Steve” Richards, Chief Medical Officer, as past Presidents.
With more than 1,200 members, POSNA is the preeminent organization for orthopaedic surgeons who care for children in the United States and Canada. Its mission is to improve the lives of children through expert orthopaedic care.
“It was a privilege and an honor to serve as President of POSNA,” Dr. Karol said. “It is a delight to be involved in the leadership of our society.”
Dr. Karol said she is excited about the direction of pediatric orthopaedic research, particularly the work being done locally.
“I think that the genetic and basic science research currently underway in pediatric orthopaedics will unlock many new avenues of treatment for many of the patients I treat,” she said. “Our lab at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, under the leadership of Dr. Carol Wise, is involved in not only identifying genes which cause idiopathic scoliosis, but even more importantly, in research investigating what exactly the roles of these genes are. It is my hope that research such as this may provide new innovative treatments for this relatively common disorder in the future.”
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Dr. Wukich holds the Dr. Charles F. Gregory Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery.
