Introducing AAOS’ 2024–2025 Presidential Leadership

At the Your Academy event on Wednesday during the AAOS 2024 Annual Meeting, the AAOS 2024–2025 presidential leadership assumed their new roles. Paul Tornetta III, MD, PhD, FAAOS, will serve as AAOS president, alongside Annunziato (Ned) Amendola, MD, FAAOS, FRCSC, DABOS, as first vice president and Wilford K. Gibson, MD, FAAOS, as second vice president.

President Paul Tornetta III, MD, PhD, FAAOS
Dr. Tornetta is the director of orthopaedic trauma at Boston Medical Center and professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine of Boston University. He describes himself as a “blue-collar surgeon” who takes pride in promoting a shared decision-making model with patients and fostering lifelong professional learning for surgeons.

Dr. Tornetta is a highly respected professor known for his passion for teaching and efforts to advance orthopaedic education, training, and surgical techniques. His reputation for fairness and transparency has earned him numerous recognitions. At Boston University, orthopaedic residents selected him four times to receive the annual Robert E. Leach, MD, Resident Teacher of the Year Award. He has earned distinction as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor every year since 1999 and Boston Magazine Top Doc honors since 2006.

Among his many AAOS volunteer positions, he previously served as a member-at-large on the Board of Directors, chaired the Education Council for 4 years, and was past chair of the Annual Meeting Committee and former Evaluations Committee. In 2022, his leadership in the collaboration among AAOS, the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, the Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors, and the AAOS Resident Assembly was instrumental in launching the AAOS Resident Orthopaedic Core Knowledge^® Curriculum.

“I am deeply grateful to the AAOS Board of Directors for entrusting me to take on this role and look forward to working alongside them and with the many volunteer and staff leaders in the organization to move our profession forward in the service of our patients,” said Dr. Tornetta. “We succeed only with each other, and I am optimistic about the future for our patients—and for us.”

First Vice President Annunziato (Ned) Amendola, MD, FAAOS, FRCSC, DABOS
Dr. Amendola, division chief for sports medicine at Duke University, was named first vice president of the AAOS Board of Directors. He has led Duke’s sports medicine program since 2015 and was named executive director of the James R. Urbaniak, MD, Sports Sciences Institute in Durham, North Carolina, in 2018. The Virginia Baker Flowers Distinguished Professor, Dr. Amendola also served as head team physician and chief medical officer for Duke Athletics.

Dr. Amendola has made a significant and lasting impact as a physician, mentor, and researcher. Internationally recognized for his research and clinical leadership, he has helped improve orthopaedic care quality throughout the world and influenced the career paths of hundreds of orthopaedic surgeons. A prolific physician-scientist, he helped to develop arthroscopic and biologic repair techniques for cartilage replacement and repair for ankle and knee injuries, which have led to further refinements in the technologies, techniques, and devices involved.

With more than 28 years of service to AAOS, Dr. Amendola has long been involved in collaborative orthopaedic organizations that focus on patient and physician advocacy and care quality improvement. He formerly served on the Board of Directors and was deputy editor of the Journal of the AAOS^®.

Dr. Amendola began his career in Canada and is the past president of the Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine and a Diplomate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada. He completed his orthopaedic residency at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. He completed postgraduate fellowships in orthopaedic sports medicine, foot and ankle surgery, and hand surgery.

Second Vice President Wilford K. Gibson, MD, FAAOS
Dr. Gibson has been in AAOS leadership for more than a decade, joining the Board of Councilors (BOC) in 2011 and serving in roles of increasing responsibility, including BOC chair from 2014–2015. In addition, he chaired the AAOS Advocacy Council from 2017–2021. Advocating for patients and the field of orthopaedic surgery, Dr. Gibson also served on the Political Action Committee of AAOS for 9 years and received the AAOS 2022 Congressional Ambassador of the Year Award.

He began his surgical internship at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. He was assigned to the USS Nassau for deployments in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Meritorious Unit Commendation, in addition to Navy “E” and sea service ribbons.

Following his military service, Dr. Gibson served as chief of the Division of Orthopaedics at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, from 1994–2001. Since then, he has been a partner in Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists, a private practice covering southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Dr. Gibson focuses on adult reconstruction of the hip and knee, specializing in minimally invasive approaches and robotics.

Dr. Gibson is associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School and clinical assistant professor of surgery at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He holds a medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia and completed an AO Foundation/Association of the Study of Internal Fixation pelvis and acetabulum fellowship at Los Angeles County–University of Southern California Medical Center.