New Additions to the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 2022
In 2022, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery welcomed six new physicians to their team.
About Augustus "Gus" D. Mazzocca, MD
Dr. Augustus "Gus" Mazzocca is the newly appointed medical director of Mass General Brigham Sports Medicine and is also the chief of Mass General's Sports Medicine Service and the director of the Bioskills, Biomechanics and Cell Biology Laboratories within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Alongside these posts, Dr. Mazzocca serves on the faculty of orthopaedic surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Mazzocca earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Denison University, a Master of Science in applied physiology from Springfield College and his medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He completed an internship and residency with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, as well as a fellowship in Sports, Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Rush University in Chicago.
Dr. Mazzocca is an internationally renowned shoulder and elbow clinician specializing in complex joint injuries and conditions. Dr. Mazzocca comes to Mass General from the University of Connecticut Health Center, where he was director of the UCONN Health Musculoskeletal Institute and professor of orthopaedic surgery. As a professor, he was the Orthopaedic Teacher of the Year in 2013 and 2021. Dr. Mazzocca played an active mentor role in UCONN's Orthopaedic Residency program since 2002, serving at times as director and assistant director of the program. He has served on numerous masters and PhD committees and has mentored hundreds of fellows, residents and other graduate students over his long career. In his UCONN role, he also served as team physician for UCONN Athletics and orthopaedic director for the state of Connecticut's Department of Corrections.
Dr. Mazzocca has dedicated his non-clinical life to education, research and his family, which is most important to him. He is a member of the prestigious American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Society (ASES), The International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopedic Sports medicine (ISAKOS), as well as being a member of the European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and Elbow (ESSSE). He and colleague Jon J.P. Warner, MD, co-founded the New England Shoulder and Elbow Society (NESES), which is a regional society dedicated to educating and researching problems related to the shoulder and elbow. He is the founder and was the director of the University of Connecticut Human Soft Tissue Research Laboratory, and he has published over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Clinical Interests:
- Arthroscopic surgery
- Biceps repair
- Labral injuries and shoulder instability (SLAP, Bankart)
- Reconstructive shoulder surgery
- Revision arthroscopic shoulder surgery
- Revision shoulder reconstruction
- Rotator cuff repairs
- Shoulder arthritis
- Shoulder arthroscopy
- Shoulder dislocation
- Shoulder instability/dislocation/subluxation (Latarjet)
- Shoulder replacement
- Sports injuries
- Treatment of failed shoulder surgery
- Triceps repair
Treats:
- Adult
Locations
Sports Medicine Service
Charles River Plaza
175 Cambridge St., 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-7500
Sports Medicine at Mass General Waltham
52 Second Ave.
3rd Floor, Suite 3300
Waltham, MA 02451
Phone: 781-487-6181
Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center at Foxborough
20 Patriot Place
Suite 3300
Foxborough, MA 02035
Medical Education
- MD, University of Conn. Health Ctr.
- Residency, University of Conn. Health Ctr.
- Fellowship, Rush University Medical Center
American Board Certifications
- Orthopedic Surgery, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
- Sports Medicine - Orthopaedics, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Maine Community Health Options
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid RI
- Medicaid VT
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Dr. Mazzocca's research is based on his experience with patient outcomes, diagnosis and treatment - operative and nonoperative. In all of these areas, Dr. Mazzocca looks for ways to improve the standard of care for patients to have a more efficient return to activity or provide an improved technique, which results in better overall outcomes for their lives. Dr. Mazzocca does this by dividing his research into three distinct clinical areas.
- Cell biology: looking at new biologic solutions to bone tendon healing involving Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), bone marrow and various other healing cells.
- Biomechanics: evaluating the strength and durability of surgical repairs, also evaluating new and improved surgical techniques for all areas of the musculoskeletal system.
- Clinical outcomes: evaluating the data collected from patients on how much their specific pain has improved and how fast they were able to get back to work and sports.
Dr Mazzocca's research interests include a clinical focus on shoulder instability and arthritis, elbow and rotator cuff injury and repair, and shoulder surgery outcomes. It also includes a component of surgical education improving teaching of our medical students, residents and fellows. Local, national and international collaborations are extremely important to Dr. Mazzocca's research efforts and a mainstay of the labs he directs. Dr Mazzocca has patents on processes designed to improve healing of rotator cuff repairs, as well as devices that aid in shoulder joint reconstruction.
Publications
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See a full list of publications on PubMed.
Selected publications:
- Muench LN, Berthold DP, Otto A, Dyrna F, Bell R, Obopilwe E, Cote MP, Imhoff AB, Mazzocca AD, Beitzel K. Increased Glenohumeral Joint Loads Due to a Supraspinatus Tear Can Be Reversed With Rotator Cuff Repair: A Biomechanical Investigation. Arthroscopy. 2022 May;38(5):1422-1432.
- Levy BJ, McCarthy MB, Lebaschi A, Sanders MM, Cote MP, Mazzocca AD. Subacromial Bursal Tissue and Surrounding Matrix of Patients Undergoing Rotator Cuff Repair Contains Progenitor Cells. Arthroscopy. 2022 Apr;38(4):1115-1123.
- LeVasseur MR, Mancini MR, Kakazu R, Cusano A, Spencer MD, Pina MJ, Cote MP, Mazzocca AD. Three-Dimensional Footprint Mapping of the Deltoid and Trapezius: Anatomic Pearls for Acromioclavicular Joint Reconstruction. Arthroscopy. 2022 Mar;38(3):701-708.
- Cusano A, Kanski G, Uyeki C, Adams K, Cote MP, Muench LN, Connors JP, Garvin P, Messina JC, Berthold DP, Kissenberth MJ, Mazzocca AD. Outcomes of Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty Following Failed Superior Capsular Reconstruction. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2022 Feb 2:S1058-2746(22)00188-4.
- Berthold DP, LeVasseur MR, Muench LN, Mancini MR, Uyeki CL, Lee J, Beitzel K, Imhoff AB, Arciero RA, Scheiderer B, Siebenlist S, Mazzocca AD. Minimum 10-Year Clinical Outcomes After Arthroscopic 270? Labral Repair in Traumatic Shoulder Instability Involving Anterior, Inferior, and Posterior Labral Injury. Am J Sports Med. 2021 Dec;49(14):3937-3944.
- Lohre R, Warner JJP, Morrey BR, Athwal GS, Morrey ME, Mazzocca AD, Goel DP. Mitigating Surgical Skill Decay in Orthopaedics Using Virtual Simulation Learning. J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev. 2021 Oct 12;5(10).