Robert James Gillespie MD

Robert J. Gillespie, MD is an orthopedic surgeon in the University Hospitals Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He is the Michael and Grace Drusinsky Chair in Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine. He is the chief of shoulder and elbow surgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and is the associate program director for the orthopedic surgery residency program at UH. He is an assistant professor in orthopedic surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Dr. Gillespie is a board-certified, fellowship-trained shoulder and elbow surgeon who specializes in the treatment of all conditions of the shoulder and elbow, including minimally invasive arthroscopic techniques in the shoulder and elbow, shoulder and elbow replacement, reverse shoulder replacement and fracture care of the shoulder and elbow.

Dr. Gillespie is a graduate of Middlebury College and Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed his orthopedic residency at UH and Metrohealth Medical Center. He then completed a shoulder and elbow fellowship at the internationally renowned Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. He joined UH in 2011. He is an associate member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society, the most prestigious society for shoulder and elbow surgeons in the world.

Dr. Gillespie has published more than 25 papers in peer-reviewed journals and textbook chapters and has presented over 40 times at national and international meetings, including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) and European Society for Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (SECEC). In 2015, he was the principal investigator on a paper that was awarded the Charles S. Neer Award which is the most prestigious award for research given to a shoulder and elbow surgeon. He has been the co-chair of the Ohio Shoulder and Elbow Society for the last five years. He is a reviewer for Clinical Orthopaedics Related Research and the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. He has also been the co-investigator on numerous federally funded grants, most recently examining novel techniques for the treatment of irreparable tendon injuries.