Jose A. Morcuende, MD, PhD
For more than 100 years the University of Iowa Department Orthopedics has been a national and international leader in patient care, teaching, and research. Significant factors in establishing and sustaining the department’s excellence are the contributions of many talented people, including Arthur Steindler, Ignacio Ponseti, and Adrian Flatt, who moved from their native countries to live and work in Iowa City; and, to dedicate themselves to strengthening and advancing the missions of the University of Iowa Orthopedics Department. Jose Morcuende has continued this legacy. He received his MD and PhD from the Universidad Autónma, in Madrid. He completed an Orthopaedic Residency and a Pediatric Orthopaedic fellowship in Spain before moving to Iowa City in 1991 to be a visiting Associate; he then moved to the Shriner’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida for a two-year research fellowship. It is the University of Iowa’s good fortune that Dr. Morcuende returned to Iowa City to pursue a second Orthopaedic Residency which he completed in 2001, a very significant accomplishment 10 years after his first residency.
Since joining the faculty in 2001, Dr. Morcuende has been an enthusiastic and vital part of the University of Iowa Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and the Carver College of Medicine. He is recognized as a caring, thoughtful, and empathetic physician and surgeon. He is an excellent teacher and role model for students and residents. Residents enjoy his infectious positivity and optimistic attitude; and greatly admire his attention to detail with casting and close relationship with the families he sees. He is often one of the first faculty encountered as an intern and instills a sense of pride and loyalty to the rich history of orthopedics within the Iowa Orthopedic Department, while fostering enjoyment for taking care of pediatric patients. In addition to his clinical practice, he has authored more than 200 scholarly publications and gained National and International recognition for his many original contributions to Orthopedic research and clinical Pediatric Orthopedics. His outstanding accomplishments were recognized when he was named the Marvin and Rosalie Pomerantz Chair in Orthopedic Surgery in 2015.
Dr. Morcuende’ s most important and lasting achievement has been his teaching and promotion of the Ignacio Ponseti treatment for children afflicted with clubfoot. In the waning years of Dr. Ponseti’s career, Dr. Morcuende worked closely with him and gradually assumed the major clinical responsibility for the treatment of club-foot patients. (Picture 1) At the University of Iowa, he has championed the Ponseti technique, and has built a nationally recognized referral service for children with clubfoot. He runs three clubfoot specialty clinics every week for children from around the country. Unlike many clubfoot clinics, Dr. Morcuende’s care is personal and hands on. Just like Dr. Ponseti before him, he does all his own clubfoot casting with gentle correction of the deformity and then meticulous molding of the cast. In addition, Dr. Morcuende has personally taught the Ponseti technique to 175 surgeons visiting the University of Iowa from throughout the world. (Picture 2)
(1) Dr. Morcuende with Dr. Ponseti and patient with clubfoot cast applied using Ponseti method.
(2) Dr. Morcuende teaching Ponseti method to international visiting physician.
(3) Dr. Morcuende traveling to Sri Lanka with resident, Malynda Wynn.
(4) Dr. Morcuende with daughter, Irene, on world clubfoot day.
(5) Dr. Morcuende with his wife, Ulpi, and two children Miguel and Irene.
Dr. Morcuende has also devoted time, expertise, and personal passion to improve clubfoot care in underdeveloped countries around the world. His international contributions are at a level that very few clinicians ever achieve. He has traveled to more than 70 countries to guide their development of clubfoot treatment programs. Numerous international trips per year were common for Dr. Morcuende over many years. Past residents who have had the opportunity to travel with him comment on the ease with which he is able to relate to healthcare providers of all backgrounds, steady dedication in the face of healthcare environment challenges, and joy he brings to those around him. (Picture 3) Through his personal appearances in local clinics, he has directly changed the lives of countless children around the world. More importantly, he has introduced local education and treatment programs that will assure that the Ponseti technique will be permanently adopted and lead to long lasting improvement in clubfoot care.
In addition to his own travel, Dr. Morcuende has been a leader in organizing philanthropic efforts to improve worldwide clubfoot care. In 2014, he spearheaded the idea of designating June 3rd as World Clubfoot Day. The date was chosen to commemorate the birthdate of Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, (1914-2009). The goal of World Clubfoot Day is to raise awareness about clubfoot disability and its prevention using the Ponseti Method. Dozens of countries around the world celebrate the day with walks, runs and family celebrations at their local clubfoot clinic. (Picture 4) He is also the Director and Founder of the Ponseti International Association (PIA), a significant philanthropic effort that has helped spread the Ponseti Clubfoot technique to underdeveloped countries. Over the last 20 years the PIA has facilitated the Ponseti treatment of 250,000 children with clubfeet. PIA and the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Iowa created the International Clubfoot Registry. Thus far, 1,261 physicians at 809 hospitals have entered information on 108,609 patients treated for clubfoot deformity. Dr. Morcuende is also a founding member of the Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot (RAG4Clubfoot), officially recognized by the Rotary International Board of Directors in 2015. RAG4Clubfoot and PIA have a formal partnership to link Rotarians and PIA together to organize and plan Ponseti Method training grants and national programs. To date, The Rotary Foundation and multiple Rotary districts/clubs have funded Ponseti Method training global grants in Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, and Argentina. Dr. Morcuende and many of the orthopedic surgeons in international countries he has trained over the years, host clinical workshops to train other orthopedic surgeons on Ponseti Method protocols.
Jose and his wife Ulpi have been fixtures of the orthopedic department and the Iowa City community for decades. Their children Irene (pediatrics) and Miguel (anesthesia) have both followed their father by pursuing careers in medicine. Ulpi has privately tutored children in Spanish and is an accomplished artist. (Picture 5)
We are pleased and proud to dedicate this year’s Iowa Orthopaedic Journal to Jose Morcuende as a well-deserved recognition of his many significant contributions to the Department and to the University of Iowa. This dedication recognizes his incredible passion for and personal effort to improving the care of children with clubfoot throughout the world by sustaining the Iowa legacy of the Ponseti method.
Dr. Morcuende is dedicated to continuing the mission of his friend and mentor, Dr. Ponseti. Through philanthropic support, The Ponseti Legacy Fund for Clubfoot has been established both to honor Dr. Ponseti and to ensure the Ponseti technique is available to all in need. This endowment will help to strengthen programming and solidify the long-term commitment of Ponseti International Association. It will ensure enough doctors in the United States and around the world are properly trained in the Ponseti technique so that families do not have to travel out of their home state to seek treatment for their children. To learn more about The Ponseti Legacy Fund for Clubfoot and how you can support the work of Dr. Morcuende and PIA, please contact Kari Nickol at The University of Iowa Center for Advancement at 319-467-3675 or Kari.Nickol@foriowa.org.
Dr. Morcuende placing a long leg cast on a patient with clubfoot utilizing the Ponseti method.
Dr. Morcuende with patient during World Clubfoot Day.