Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Gary Fanton is the Chief of the Section of Sports Medicine at Stanfords Department of Orthopedic Surgery. His practice primarily involves the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of sports and trauma-related injuries of the upper extremity, knee, and ankle. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and is currently the Team Physician in Orthopedics for the San Francisco 49ers. Dr. Fanton's past experience includes positions as team orthopedist for the San Francisco Giants, company physician for the San Jose Ballet, head team orthopedist for Stanford University football and basketball, and team orthopedist for Stanfords additional 29 varsity sports. He co-founded the SOAR clinic where he was an active partner in private practice since 1983. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Michigan and M.D. degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Dr. Fanton's special interests include arthroscopic surgery of the knee and shoulder...specifically, injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee, cartilage injuries, rotator cuff tears, and shoulder instability. He has done extensive research on knee ligament tears, explored new techniques for shoulder stabilization and tendon repair, and he utilizes state-of-the-art surgical procedures to enhance rehabilitation and recovery after surgery. He is frequently asked to be a guest lecturer both nationally and internationally on these and other sports-medicine related topics. He has also authored dozens of articles on sports injuries and new surgical techniques.
Dr. Fanton was a co-founder and board member of Oratec Interventions, a medical device start-up for minimally invasive spine and joint procedures that went public in April, 2000, which was subsequently purchased by Smith-Nephew in 2002. He actively serves on the medical advisory board for several public and private surgical device companies in the Orthopedic industry and he continues to design and develop unique surgical devices for minimally invasive surgery. He has co-authored several device patents and has several others pending.
Dr. Fanton has been a member in good standing with the American Academy of Orthopedic surgeons since 1985 and he is a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. He is also member of the Orthopedic Research Society, NFL Team Physicians Society, the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine, The International Knee Society, International Cartilage Repair Society, and a founding member of the International Musculoskeletal Laser Society.
