Orthopedic surgeon James Urbaniak, MD, who had served as chief of orthopedic surgery at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University for almost two decades, died July 18. He was 90 years old.
Dr. Urbaniak earned his medical degree from Duke and was the university’s Virginia Flowers Baker Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Orthopaedic Surgery. For more than 30 years, he directed hand surgery at Duke. Dr. Urbaniak also performed the first replantation procedure at the university in 1974 and helped develop its replantation program, through which more than 1,200 amputated body parts were successfully replanted, according to a July 22 news release from the university.
Dr. Urbaniak served as chief of orthopedic surgery from 1985 to 2002, training hundreds of residents and fellows during his career.
In 2016, the James R. Urbaniak Sports Science Institute at Duke was dedicated and named in his honor.
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