Dr. Lisa Lattanza is an orthopedic surgeon and UCSF's chief of hand, elbow and upper arm surgery. Caring for both adults and children, she has expertise in surgeries for arthritis, blood vessel and nerve problems, bone deformities, dislocations and fractures, joint problems, ligament and tendon injuries, and tumors. She has special interests in hand and elbow birth defects in children and elbow and forearm reconstruction in adults. A former physical therapist, Lattanza earned her medical degree at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences. She completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Missouri. She continued her training first with a fellowship in hand and upper extremity surgery at Mount Sinai St. Luke's–Roosevelt Hospital Center and then with a fellowship in congenital hand defects at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Lattanza teaches and performs surgery for Health Volunteers Overseas. She is co-founder of the Perry Initiative, an organization that encourages high school girls to pursue careers in orthopedic surgery.