Dr.Francis Hornicek MD Phd
Co-founder & Scientific Advisory Board Member
Francis John Hornicek, M.D., Ph.D., is currently chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA and an outstanding clinician-scientist and educator. A world famous orthopaedic oncologist, Dr. Hornicek served as The Henry J. Mankin, M.D., Endowed Scholar, Chief of the Orthopaedic Oncology Service, Vice Chair for Biological Research, Supervisor of the Sarcoma Molecular Biology Laboratory, Director of the Stephan L. Harris Chordoma Center, and Co-Director of the Center for Sarcoma and Connective Tissue Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital; Co-Leader of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Oncology Group; and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hornicek's clinical research interests include the influence of the gut microbiome on orthopaedic diseases and acute/chronic inflammatory conditions.
Since the 1980s he has been instrumental in improving quality and safety for Tissue Banking globally and has served in multiple leadership roles in the American Association of Tissue Banks including as president. He is a world expert on chordoma, works actively with the Chordoma Foundation, established The Stephan L. Harris Chordoma Center at MGH, and will bring this expertise as a focus of his activities at UCLA. Dr. Hornicek's basic research efforts have focused on molecular biology of sarcomas and he has an interest on how the gut microbiome affects cancer management. His bibliography includes more than 350 scientific manuscripts, 25 reviews and chapters, and two books.
Dr. Hornicek graduated with a B.A. in biology and mathematics from Washington and Jefferson College. He earned his PhD in physics-biophysics from Georgetown University and his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Hornicek completed his Orthopaedic Surgical Residency at the University of Miami and an Orthopaedic Oncology Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston. He began his academic career as a faculty member at the University of Miami following his residency and then was recruited to the Harvard faculty in 1998. In the spring of 2017 Dr. Hornicek accepted a leadership role at UCLA Health System and holds a visiting professor position at Harvard Medical School.