Lee Kaplan, M.D., associate professor of orthopaedics and chief of UHealth Sports Medicine in the Miller School’s Department of Orthopaedics, has been named Medical Director and Head Team Physician for UM Athletics. A renowned specialist in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery, Kaplan has filled those roles since joining the University in 2008, when he helped launch UHealth Sports Medicine, building it into one of the nation’s finest, academic-based, multidisciplinary programs for both elite athletes and active individuals sidelined by injury or other medical conditions. The appointment, jointly announced by Miller School of Medicine Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., and Shawn Eichorst, Director of Athletics, makes those roles official. As Medical Director, Kaplan will oversee the enhancement of all the Athletic Department’s sports performance services, including medical evaluation and care, strength and conditioning, nutrition, and sports psychology, as well as the execution of the drug-testing program. “Under Dr. Kaplan’s tremendous leadership and collaboration with his colleagues at UHealth, student-athletes at the U receive the very best medical care possible,” Eichorst said. “I am pleased that his appointment as Medical Director and Head Team Physician officially recognizes the pivotal role he plays in the Athletic Department’s success and strong commitment to student-athlete welfare. We are very fortunate to have one of the very best sports medicine physicians in the world caring for our student-athletes.” Kaplan also directs the University’s new UHealth Sports Performance and Wellness Institute, which he spearheaded to optimize human performance, injury care and prevention, and overall well-being through evidence-based medicine, rehabilitation and exercise physiology. Mirroring the multidisciplinary approach of UHealth Sports Medicine, which provides imaging, physical therapy, concussion specialists, nutritional advice, and ambulatory surgery in one location, the Sports Performance and Wellness Institute is building a comprehensive, University-wide team to promote healthy lifestyles and enhanced wellness in our community through research, discovery, clinical care, education and training, and outreach. “Through his expertise and vision, Lee isn’t helping just UM’s student-athletes be the best they can be; he is committed to helping our greater community be the best it can be,” Dean Goldschmidt said. “He is transforming the concept of sports medicine from one focused on treating injuries to facilitate a rapid return to sports, to one focused on the life-long, multidisciplinary management of all who want to maintain an active lifestyle, which should be all of us.” A board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, Kaplan earned his medical degree from George Washington University and completed his general and orthopaedic surgery training at UM. A member of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine, he is also Medical Director for the Miami Marlins.