The board of regents approved the appointment of Michelle S. Caird, M.D., to chair of the Michigan Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, effective May 1. Caird served as interim department chair since May 2019.

A member of the faculty since 2004, Caird is now the Harold W. and Helen L. Gehring Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. She operates in the division of pediatric orthopaedics and, from 2012-15, served as the department’s assistant residency director for research. In 2015, Caird was appointed program director of the Orthopaedic Residency Program and associate chair for education in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Caird is a leading expert on multiple pediatric orthopaedic conditions, treating children with fractures, spinal deformity and unequal or bowed legs. She is the director of the U-M osteogenesis imperfecta multidisciplinary clinic, which cares for dozens of children and adults with the genetic disorder each year.

The Grand Rapids native received her medical degree from the U-M Medical School and returned to Michigan Medicine for her residency. Caird completed a pediatric orthopaedic surgery fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before coming back to Ann Arbor. She was promoted from lecturer to associate professor in 2014 and Larry S. Matthews Professor of Orthopaedics in 2016.

Caird is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion both in her department and at Michigan Medicine. She instituted the orthopaedic surgery DEI Committee and serves on Michigan Medicine’s Anti-Racism Oversight Committee. Caird is one of a handful of women in the U.S. to be appointed chair of an orthopaedic surgery department with a residency program.

“I feel a deep sense of duty and responsibility to this department, for our school and for all other women who are interested in the field of orthopaedic surgery,” Caird said. “I will continue working hard to foster a culture of respect, diversity and mentorship, so everyone can succeed in providing innovative care to our patients.”