Program & Society Leadership

Number of members holding each role, tallied from CVs on file.

Selected Highlights

• Eric R. Wagner — Charles S. Neer Award 2023 — best clinical paper of the year in shoulder surgery
• Eric R. Wagner — Chief, Division of Upper Extremity Surgery, Emory University
• Eric R. Wagner — Co-Chairman, ASSH 2024 Annual Meeting
• Eric R. Wagner — Deputy Editor, Shoulder & Elbow, JAAOS
• Eric R. Wagner — 2x ASSH Best Paper Award for Top Clinical Research (2020, 2024)
• John R. Fowler — Andrew J. Weiland Medal, ASSH, 2025
• John R. Fowler — Co-Chair, ASSH Annual Meeting 2021 (San Francisco)
• John R. Fowler — Sterling Bunnell Traveling Fellow 2020
• John R. Fowler — Fellowship Director, UPMC Hand & Upper Extremity Fellowship
• John R. Fowler — Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online
• Christopher S. Klifto — Chair of Orthopaedics, Duke Regional Hospital
• Christopher S. Klifto — Program Director, Duke Shoulder & Elbow Fellowship
• Christopher S. Klifto — Deputy Editor, Shoulder & Elbow, JAAOS
• Christopher S. Klifto — Member-at-Large, ASES Executive Committee
• Christopher S. Klifto — ASES Specialty Day Co-Chair 2024
• Brandon S. Smetana — Chair, ASSH Courses & Meetings Advisory Committee (2023-26)
• Brandon S. Smetana — Associate Fellowship Program Director, Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center
• Brandon S. Smetana — Associate Editor, Journal of Hand Surgery
• Brandon S. Smetana — Co-Director, Peripheral Nerve Injury & Limb Pain Program
• Brandon S. Smetana — ASSH Annual Meeting Program Committee (2026-)
• Omri Ayalon — Co-Director, Center for Amputation Reconstruction, NYU Langone
• Omri Ayalon — Associate Director, Kaplan Hand Surgery Fellowship, NYU
• Omri Ayalon — Vice Chair, ASSH Courses & Webinar Committee
• Omri Ayalon — Founding Member, First Hand Travelling Hand Club
• Omri Ayalon — ASSH Young Leaders Program 2021
• Amar Arun Patel — Chair, MemorialCare Saddleback Surgery Centers Board
• Amar Arun Patel — ASSH Business of Hand Surgery Committee
• Amar Arun Patel — Hand & UE fellowship, Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center
• Amar Arun Patel — Castle Connolly Top Doctor / Super Doctors
• Alexander Lauder — Associate Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Denver Health
• Alexander Lauder — Associate Program Director, Hand & UE Fellowship, University of Colorado
• Alexander Lauder — 4× ASSH/AFSH Research Grant awardee
• Alexander Lauder — Fulbright Fellow (Italy, 2006–07)
• Alexander Lauder — ASSH Young Leader Program 2023
• Brian W. Sager — ASSH Patient, Public Education & Outreach Committee (2025-26)
• Brian W. Sager — ASSH Mock Board Examiner (2024-26); ASSH Fellows Bootcamp faculty (2023, 2024)
• Brian W. Sager — Treasurer, First Hand Club (2025-present)
• Brian W. Sager — Harold & Nancy Willingham Award, Western Orthopaedic Association (2018)
• Brian W. Sager — Texas Super Doctors Rising Stars (2025)
• Ryan A. Rose — Division Head & Chief, Division of Orthopaedic Hand Surgery, UT Health San Antonio
• Ryan A. Rose — Vice Chair of Education & Residency Program Director, UT Health San Antonio
• Ryan A. Rose — Founder & Treasurer, First Hand Inc. (501(c)(3))
• Ryan A. Rose — Medical Director, Hand Service, University Health System
• Ryan A. Rose — Fred G. Corley Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award (2020)
• Aviram M. Giladi — ASSH Council Member-at-Large (2024-present)
• Aviram M. Giladi — Chair, ASSH Evidence-Based Practice Committee (2024-25)
• Aviram M. Giladi — Research Director, The Curtis National Hand Center
• Aviram M. Giladi — Deputy Editor-in-Chief, JHS Global Online; Associate Editor, Journal of Hand Surgery
• Aviram M. Giladi — ARPA-H, NIH and DoD funded investigator (12 funded grants)
• Richard J. Tosti — Associate Program Director, Hand Surgery Fellowship, Rothman Orthopaedic Institute (2023-present)
• Richard J. Tosti — ASSH Specialty Day Chairman, AAOS Annual Meeting (2027)
• Richard J. Tosti — President, Philadelphia Hand Society (2021-2022)
• Richard J. Tosti — Julian M. Bruner Award for Best Poster of the ASSH (2013); ASSH Young Leader (2023)
• Richard J. Tosti — ASSH Annual Meeting Committee & International Outreach Committee (2023-2026)
• Erin A. Miller — Program Director (2027–) and Associate Program Director (2022–2026), UW Combined Hand Surgery Fellowship
• Erin A. Miller — Clinical Quality Assurance Director, UW Unified Hand Surgery Service
• Erin A. Miller — Guest Editor, Hand Clinics — Nonunions and Malunions in the Hand, Forearm and Wrist (2023)
• Erin A. Miller — ASSH Handthology Editorial Board (2024–)
• Erin A. Miller — ASSH Young Leaders Steering Committee (2020–2025)
• Samir K. Trehan — Education Director, Hand & Upper Extremity Service, Hospital for Special Surgery (2019–)
• Samir K. Trehan — ASSH Research Management Committee (2021–2024)
• Samir K. Trehan — Co-Chair, ASSH Resident & Fellow Conference, 2020 Annual Meeting
• Samir K. Trehan — Lawrence H. Schneider Lectureship in Hand Surgery, Philadelphia Hand Society (2023)
• Samir K. Trehan — Richard S. Laskin, M.D. Young Attending Award, Hospital for Special Surgery (2021)
• Todd A. Rubin — President-Elect, First Hand Travel Club (2027–2028)
• Todd A. Rubin — Board of Trustees, Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics
• Todd A. Rubin — Editorial Board, Techniques in Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery
• Todd A. Rubin — ASSH ER Hand Care Committee (2021–2024)
• Todd A. Rubin — Clinical Assistant Professor, Belmont University / Frist College of Medicine (2023–)
• Jeffrey G. Stepan — Richard H. Gelberman Traveling Fellowship / Scholar Award, American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand (2024)
• Jeffrey G. Stepan — Fellowship Director, Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery Fellowship, The University of Chicago
• Jeffrey G. Stepan — Associate Editor, Journal of Hand Surgery - American (2022-)
• Jeffrey G. Stepan — Chair, ASSH Scientific Program Subcommittee (2025-)
• Jeffrey G. Stepan — North American Traveling Fellow, American Orthopaedic Association (2025)
• Amelia Van Handel — ASSH Patient/Public Education and Outreach Committee (2019-)
• Amelia Van Handel — ASSH Self-Assessment Examination Committee (2026-)
• Amelia Van Handel — Michael Sean Murphy Research Award (2023)
• Amelia Van Handel — James Barrett Brown Resident Research Award, Washington University (2021 and 2022)
• Amelia Van Handel — Site Director, Valleywise Health Hand Rotation, Mayo Clinic Arizona Plastic Surgery Residency
• Mitchell A. Pet — Director, Section of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine (2022-)
• Mitchell A. Pet — Associate Program Director, Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery Fellowship, Washington University (2019-)
• Mitchell A. Pet — Co-Leader, ASSH Presidential Microsurgery Task Force (2019-2022); ASSH Young Leaders Program (2020-2021)
• Mitchell A. Pet — Guest Editor, Hand Clinics 38(4) 'Avascular Necrosis of the Carpal Bones' (2022); Editorial Board, Techniques in Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery
• Mitchell A. Pet — NIH R21 and R01 co-investigator in wearable perfusion sensing, with US Patent 12,521,030 for wireless tissue blood-flow monitoring probes
• Joseph A. Buckwalter V — Division Chief, Hand Surgery, University of Iowa (2026-present)
• Joseph A. Buckwalter V — Adrian E. Flatt Hand Fellowship Program Director, University of Iowa (2023-present)
• Joseph A. Buckwalter V — Associate Editor, Journal of Hand Surgery (2017-present)
• Joseph A. Buckwalter V — ASSH Hand Fellowship Directors Association Executive Committee (2026-2028)
• Joseph A. Buckwalter V — President, First Hand Club (2024)

Members Represented

• Alexander Lauder · Denver Health / University of Colorado
• Amar Arun Patel · South County Orthopaedic Specialists (CA)
• Amelia Van Handel · Valleywise Health Medical Center / University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix
• Aviram M. Giladi · The Curtis National Hand Center / MedStar Union Memorial Hospital
• Brandon S. Smetana · Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center
• Brian W. Sager · UT Health San Antonio
• Christopher S. Klifto · Duke University
• Eric R. Wagner · Emory University
• Erin A. Miller · University of Washington / Harborview Medical Center
• Jeffrey G. Stepan · The University of Chicago, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine
• John R. Fowler · University of Pittsburgh / UPMC
• Joseph A. Buckwalter V · University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics / Iowa City VA Medical Center
• Mitchell A. Pet · Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Omri Ayalon · NYU Langone Health
• Richard J. Tosti · Rothman Orthopaedic Institute / Thomas Jefferson University
• Ryan A. Rose · UT Health San Antonio
• Samir K. Trehan · Hospital for Special Surgery / Weill Cornell Medical College
• Todd A. Rubin · Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics (Nashville, TN) / Belmont University Frist College of Medicine

About First Hand

First Hand is a working group of ~30 hand surgeons collaborating across institutions on research, education, and innovation in hand and upper-extremity surgery. The numbers above are tallied directly from members' curricula vitae and refresh automatically as CVs are added or updated — a single, current picture of the group's collective academic footprint.