UAMS Surgeon Named President of Geriatric Fracture Society

Simon C. Mears

Dr. Simon C. Mears, a hip and knee surgeon at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, has been elected president of the International Geriatric Fracture Society.

Mears, also a professor in the Department of Orthopedics in the UAMS College of Medicine, will serve as president through 2017.

“Dr. Mears has a distinguished career, which includes the prestigious Jahnigen Award in geriatric medicine,” C. Lowry Barnes, chair of the UAMS Department of Orthopedics, said in a news release. “This latest appointment as president of IGFS is a tremendous honor for Dr. Mears and accentuates the many reasons we were thrilled to have him join our team at UAMS.”

Mearswas a leader in the creation of IGFS and previously served as vice president of the organization. He is deputy editor of its Geriatric Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Journal.

“Through education, research and collaboration, the International Geriatric Fracture Society continues to strive to lead geriatric care,” Mears said. “I am honored to serve as the organization’s president and look forward to making advancements during that time.”

He came to UAMS in July from the Total Joint Center at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, Texas, where he served as clinical professor in the Department of Surgery at the Health Sciences Center in the Texas A&M University College of Medicine.

Previously, he practiced at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for 10 years. Mears was founder and co-director of the Hip Fracture Service at Bayview Medical Center from 1998-2013, and medical director of the Wenz Orthopaedic Unit from 2005-2013.

His research interests include the clinical outcome of geriatric patients and the biomechanics of fixation in osteoporotic bone.

Mears earned his medical degree and doctor of philosophy in neurobiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed an orthopedic surgery residency at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a fellowship in orthopedic traumatology at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the Mayo Clinic.