Dr. John Herzenberg
Emeritus Faculty
John E. Herzenberg, MD, FRCSC, FAAOS, is an emeritus faculty member who has retired from providing patient care. He is the former Director of Pediatric Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital and former Director of the International Center for Limb Lengthening at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics. In his new role, he will continue to participate in research, publishing, education, and organizing international medical mission trips.
Dr. Herzenberg is a board-certified pediatric and adult orthopedic surgeon who has been listed in U.S. News Top Doctors as being in the top 1% of his field. He is also one of the world’s foremost practitioners of the Ponseti Method, which is used to correct clubfoot deformity.
After completing medical school at Boston University, he completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Duke University and subspecialty training in pediatric orthopedics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Herzenberg trained in limb lengthening directly with Professor Ilizarov in the USSR in 1989 and subsequently in Lecco, Italy, with Professor Maurizio Catagni. After five years on the faculty of the University of Michigan, Dr. Herzenberg moved to Maryland and was Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Maryland. Dr. Herzenberg co-founded the Maryland Center for Limb Lengthening & Reconstruction at Kernan Hospital. He later co-founded the International Center for Limb Lengthening at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore in 2001.
Dr. Herzenberg has coauthored two books, 50 book chapters, and over 185 journal articles. He lectures throughout the world on topics related to limb lengthening and pediatric orthopedics. He co-chairs the annual Baltimore Limb Deformity Course where over 250 surgeons come to Baltimore to be trained by him in limb lengthening and deformity correction. He also helps train doctors and surgical residents. He is credited with reintroducing the Ponseti method of conservative clubfoot treatment, and he co-developed the Precice internal lengthening nail as an alternative to external fixators for limb lengthening.
Dr. Herzenberg is married, has three adult children, and enjoys personal fitness training and Bible study. He travels with his family to developing countries such as Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Ethiopia, Uganda, Liberia, Nepal, Honduras, and Ukraine on yearly Operation Rainbow missions to provide orthopedic care to disabled children. In recognition of 18 years of international volunteering, he was given the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America’s 2016 Humanitarian Award.
Contact Information
Published Research Articles
Click here to see a list of Dr. Herzenberg’s peer-reviewed research articles.
Patient Stories
Click here to see stories about Dr. Herzenberg’s patients.
Please note that Dr. Herzenberg has retired from providing patient care. Dr. Philip McClure, who has been working with Dr. Herzenberg and his patients since 2019, has assumed his practice.