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Alumni Profiles

• Margaret McGlynn
• John Schiumo
• Sandra Donaldson
• Daniel Sucato

Daniel Sucato

Orthopedic surgeon/researcher specializes in helping children achieve long-term health

Story by Riley MacKenzie : Photo by Robert Bittle

Strength and flexibility.

The healthy human spine has both qualities. When a child’s spine requires correction, Daniel J. Sucato, MD ’91 & MS ’89, brings his own strength and flexibility to bear on the problem—and changes lives.

Sucato, an internationally recognized pediatric orthopedic surgeon, practices at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas and is associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He also directs the hospital’s Charles E. Seay/Martha and Pat Beard Center for Excellence in Spine Research, where scientists from neurobiologists to biomechanical engineers study ways to better treat children—most only a few years old—who have deformities and functional issues from spine, hip and other orthopedic problems.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions in pediatric orthopedic surgery—how to impact these children early to improve the long-term health of their musculoskeletal system,” Sucato says. “It’s an opportunity to make real strides in research.”

The American Medical Association has recognized his accomplishments with the Dr. William Beaumont Award in Medicine, given to physicians under age 50 (he is 41) who have distinguished themselves in medical science.

His is a career born at the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, then into a residency strongly influenced by the late Robert Gillespie, chair of the Department of Orthopedics, who recognized Sucato’s potential to be a leader in this field.

Now Sucato’s work has blossomed into exciting advances. Where frequently pediatric orthopedists have fused the spines of their young patients, Sucato and his colleagues use a variety of techniques to correct the spine without fusion. Another area of investigation is developing mechanisms to prevent post-surgical internal scarring that can inhibit lung function. He has traveled throughout the U.S. and in Europe and Asia presenting his research, with more than 50 publications and book chapters to his credit as well.

Sucato and his wife, Lisa, have three young children, giving him a heightened sense of the responsibility implicit in treating young patients. But the rewards are great.

“Some kids who come to us teach us everything about life,” he says. One patient, now a teenage girl, endured surgery to correct a severe deformity in her spine. “She painted me the most beautiful picture, one that hangs in my office now. That’s what itall about.”