Francis H. Shen, MD

Co-Director of UVA Spine Center
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Division Head of the Orthopaedic Spine Service
Director of the Spine Fellowship
Department of Orthopaedics
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA

Physician Biography

Doctor Francis H. Shen serves as Division Head of the Orthopaedic Spine Service, Director of the Spine Fellowship, and Co-Director of the Spine Center, and is a board certified Orthopaedic Surgeon and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Virginia (UVA).  He also serves as part of the prestigious Scientific Staff of Shriners Hospitals for Children, is a member of AO North America’s Faculty, and Consultant Spine Surgeon in the Department of Sports Medicine at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.

Further, Dr. Shen is a member of many UVA committees including the Department of Orthopaedic Research, Transfusion Medicine, Orthopaedic Residency Selection, and Representative of the US Bone Joint Decade Project.  He also actively serves as a committee member of the Cochrane Review’s Back Group, and Medical Board of Trustees for the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation.

Dr. Shen has been honored with many distinctions including America’s Top Orthopedist (two consecutive years), member of the Academy of Distinguished Educators by the University of Virginia, 2004 Cervical Spine Research Society Award in Clinical Research, 2004  North American Spine Society Clinical Traveling Fellowship Award, 2006 North American Spine Society Outstanding Award in Basic Sciences, 2007 North American Spine Society Outstanding Award in Clinical Sciences, 2007 North American Spine Society Outstanding Award in Basic Sciences, 2008 Young Investigator Award in Spine, and the 2009 Scoliosis Research Society’s Traveling Fellow Award.

Dr. Shen received his medical degree from the University of Virginia where he completed his general surgical internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery, and subsequently served as Chief Resident in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  He advanced his spine training through several fellowship programs.  Under the tutelage of Directors Howard S. An, MD and Ronald L. DeWald, MD at Rush University in Chicago, IL he completed a Combined Spine Fellowship.  At Shriners Hospitals for Children in Chicago, with John P. Lubicky, MD’s guidance, he focused on a pediatric spinal deformity.  An Orthopaedic Surgery Research Fellowship was completed at the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory at UVA under Director Gray Balian, PhD.  He also completed several clinical traveling fellowships include the North American Spine Society Clinical Traveling Fellowship in minimal access surgery and will complete the prestigious Scoliosis Research Society Traveling Fellow program through Asia in 2009.

He is a member of many prestigious societies including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Cervical Spine Society, North American Spine Society, Orthopaedic Research Society, American Spinal Injury Association, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Scoliosis Research Society (Candidate Fellow), and the Arthroscopy Association of North America.

Dr. Shen has presented and published his research in peer-reviewed journals and contributed chapters to textbooks.  He is on several editorial boards including The Spine Journal, SpineLine, Radiology Rounds (SpineLine), European Spine Journal, and International Reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Rehabilitative Tissue Engineering Research.  Dr. Shen is an Ad Hoc Journal Reviewer for Spine, the Journal of Orthopaedic Research and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Although his clinical and professional obligations keep him busy, Dr. Shen sets aside time to serve community organizations: Westhaven Community Free Clinic as a Volunteer in Sports Physical Screenings and Volunteer for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery events.

Read Dr. Shen's Interview