Dr. Steve Nelson, Dean of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has appointed internationally recognized orthopaedic surgeon Robert Zura, 
MD the Robert D’Ambrosia Professor and Head of the Department of Orthopaedics.
Dr. Zura was recruited from Duke University, where he headed the Section of Orthopaedic Trauma and was Director of Orthopaedic Trauma for the Duke Health System. His research interests include the outcomes of fracture management, bone stimulation and the biomechanics of orthopaedic fixation.
Dr. Zura has served on the boards of the Southern Orthopaedic Association and the Kuentscher Society. He has served in leadership positions in the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
He has traveled extensively, helping to educate medical professionals in other countries and operate on underserved patients in many countries including Argentina, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Paraguay, China, and Uganda. Dr. Zura was twice named a distinguished visiting scholar at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he helped U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has been published in peer-reviewed journals as well as medical textbooks.