Kagan Ozer, MD

Dr. Kagan (Kaan) Ozer is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Michigan Health System. He attended Istanbul University for medical school and completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Taksim Trauma Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. During his residency, he was drawn to the complexity of the hand and microsurgery, which led him to pursue a research fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio. After the completion of his research fellowship in microsurgery, he completed his orthopaedic residency, came back to the US and finished clinical fellowships in Hand Surgery at Kleinert Institute, Louisville KY and in Plastic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, OH. In 2003, he joined the faculty at the University of Colorado, Denver and began to work at a level 1-trauma center, Denver Health. He worked in Denver for 8 years, established one of the leading microsurgery and replantation centers in the Rocky Mountain Region. In 2011, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan. His clinical research interests include management of complex hand and upper extremity trauma, nonunions, peripheral nerve injuries, and hand transplantation. During his career, he had numerous publications in the leading journals of his field. He is in editorial boards of many scientific journals including the Journal of Hand Surgery and the Journal of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery. In addition to his clinical research interests, Dr. Ozer also conducts experimental research on ischemia-reperfusion injury, composite tissue allograft preservation and transplantation. Dr. Ozer is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, and is an active member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, the American Orthopaedic Association, and the Michigan Orthopaedic Society. Dr. Ozer holds a certificate of added qualifications in hand surgery and is leading the team for hand transplantation.