July 11, 2014 | July 11, 2014 | C. Lowry Barnes, M.D., one of Arkansas’ and the region’s foremost joint replacement experts, has been named chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) effective August 1. He will hold the Carl L. Nelson, M.D., Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery.

Barnes has been a UAMS professor of orthopaedics for the past three years while he continued his private practice. He will see patients at UAMS and continue seeing patients in his practice at Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics and St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center.

In his new role, Barnes will lead an important and exciting transformation in how orthopaedics is practiced at UAMS and in Arkansas, said G. Richard Smith, dean of the UAMS College of Medicine. “Our patients, students and trainees, and faculty staff will all benefit greatly from the broad experience, strong leadership and new vision that he brings to this post.”

Barnes graduated with honors from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1986. He stayed at UAMS for his internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery. Barnes completed a fellowship in Adult Reconstructive Surgery and Arthritis Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

In 1998, Barnes was founding managing partner of Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics, where he was president for more than a decade. He has long been active at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, serving on the board of directors from 1997-2010 and as president of the St. Vincent Infirmary Physician Hospital Organization.

Barnes is a member of the prestigious Knee Society, the only Arkansas member since the death of Carl Nelson. He is a past president of numerous organizations, including the Arkansas Orthopaedic Society, the Southern Orthopaedic Association and the Society for Arthritic Joint Surgery. He serves as treasurer for The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons and has recently been named the Distinguished Southern Orthopaedist by the Southern Orthopaedic Association. Barnes has been active with the Arkansas Arthritis Foundation for many years, previously serving on its board of directors and earning many accolades, including the organization’s Person of the Year honor in 2000.

Barnes lectures nationally and internationally on total joint replacement surgery and has been active in research focusing on the hip and knee. He has published extensively and is on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed publications including the Journal of Arthroplasty and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, and he serves as editor of the Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances. He holds four patents for orthopaedic surgery devices that he developed and has designed numerous hip and knee implants. Barnes is also known nationally for his expertise in health care quality, efficiency and new payment structures that were ushered in with health system reform.

Richard W. Nicholas Jr. served as chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery from 2006 to 2013 when he stepped down to become director of the new UAMS Center for Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors. Richard McCarthy, a professor who specializes in spine surgery, primarily for pediatric patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, has served as interim chair for the last nine months.