2025 Presidential Guest Speaker
Mary I. O'Connor, MD

A nationally recognized leader who has championed diversity in medicine, surgery and orthopedics, Dr. O'Connor is Professor Emerita of Orthopedics at Mayo Clinic, as well as past Professor of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine. She is Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vori Health, an award-winning, nationwide, virtual specialty medical practice designed to treat musculoskeletal pain more effectively.

After competing as a U.S. Olympic rower, Dr. O'Connor completed her orthopedic residency and fellowship in orthopedic oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., during a time when few women were accepted into training programs. She was invited to join the staff at Mayo Clinic in Florida and wore many leadership hats throughout the organization, including enterprise-wide medical director of the Office of Integrity and Compliance; chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in Florida; medical director for development in Florida; and member of the Florida Executive Operations Team. In 2015, Dr. O'Connor was named the inaugural director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health. In 2021, she transitioned from academic medicine to entrepreneurship as co-founder of Vori Health.

Dr. O'Connor has accomplished many "firsts." She was the first female member of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS), the International Society of Limb Salvage (ISOLS), the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) and the first female surgeon in The Knee Society. She has also served as president of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS), AAHKS, ISOLS, MSTS and the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS). She is a former member of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. and is previous chair of the AAOS Women's Health Issues Advisory Board and the AAOS Diversity Advisory Board.