Jeffrey C. Lotz

​Jeffrey C. Lotz, PhD, holds the David S. Bradford, MD, Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery. The professorship, which honors former chair David Bradford, MD, supports an outstanding faculty member in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Lotz has been director of the Laboratory for Orthopaedic Bioengineering at UCSF since 1992, and vice chair for research in the department since 2012. His awards for spine research include the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) Prize for Low Back Pain Research (2007), the ISSLS Volvo Award (1998), and the North American Spine Society Award (1993). Dr. Lotz also serves as a deputy editor for the journal Spine. He is the founding director of the UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology in Medicine, and the UCSF Center for Disruptive Musculoskeletal Innovations. He has expertise in spine biomechanics, intervertebral disc biology, and tissue engineering. His laboratory work focuses on identifying mechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration, developing novel diagnostics and therapies for low back pain, and the biomechanics of spinal instrumentation.