Matthew A Halanski MD
Personal Profile
Dr. Matthew A. Halanski serves as the division chief of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at Phoenix Children's and is the Herbert J. Louis Endowed Chair in Orthopedics. He is also a professor/clinical scholar at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix.
​
Before joining Phoenix Children's in 2022, Dr. Halanski served as director of Pediatric Orthopedic Research and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then went on to serve as the division chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha and served as the vice chair of Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he was later promoted to full professor.
​
Dr. Halanski is board certified in orthopedic surgery and has been involved in numerous professional committees and initiatives that further patient care, education, and research. Some activities have been hospital-based, while others have been national, including his service on the Biomedical Engineering Committee of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the Growing Spine Committee of the Scoliosis Research Society and several committees with the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA), including chairing the membership committee. He also participates in outreach activities to educate patients and families about such conditions as cerebral palsy.
​
Dr. Halanski has been successful in research, publishing numerous articles on orthopedic conditions, including clubfoot, spinal muscular atrophy, and spinal deformities. He has been awarded grant funding from numerous foundations, including POSNA, the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF), OMeGA and The Hartwell Foundation, as well as the National Institutes of Health (R13, S10 and R21 grants).
​
Dr. Halanski and his wife, a pediatrician, have three daughters. He particularly enjoys fly fishing and bow hunting when he has any free time.

Education
2006-2007
Starship Children's Hospital
Completed a fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery and spinal deformity at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand
2003-2006
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Completed an orthopedics residency (PGY3-5) where he was awarded the 2006 Wisconsin Orthopaedic Society Best Resident Paper Award and was the co-recipient of the 2006 University of Wisconsin Orthopaedic Resident Research Award
1992-1996
University of Michigan
Earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology where he participated in Alpha Chi Alpha, Professional Chemistry Fraternity, and was awarded a James B Angel Scholar, Merck Index Award to Outstanding Senior, and High Distinction Graduate with High Honors in Chemistry
1996-2003
Wayne State University
Earned his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit and began his residency (PGY1-2) in the Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program where he was part of the Comprehensive Class Honors, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute - NIH Research Scholar and the Honor Convocation Speaker
