Steven Gitelis, MD
Orthopedic oncologist Steven Gitelis, MD, is an internationally known expert and pioneer in limb-sparing surgical procedures. Dr. Gitelis is also known for launching Chicago’s first bone transplant program at Rush and for performing the first successful transplant of live cartilage in Chicago.

Dr. Gitelis is director of the section of orthopedic oncology and associate chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at Rush. A professor in the Rush College of Medicine, he holds the Rush University Orthopedic Oncology Chair. He is also the director of the Rush Center for Limb Preservation.

His activities outside the medical center include directing the Bone and Tissue Bank of the Regional Organ Bank of Illinois (ROBI) and serving as a ROBI trustee. He also is past president of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society.

Dr. Gitelis completed fellowships in orthopedic oncology with Professor Mario Campanacci, Rizzoli Institute, Bologna, Italy, and at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. He served in the U.S. Navy and served active duty at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-91. He received a 1993 Navy Commendation medal.

Dr. Gitelis is the 1990 award recipient of the American Orthopedic Association and a Rush Medical College Distinguished Alumnus (2000). A diplomat of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery (99th percentile), Dr. Gitelis has presented extensively and been published nationally and internationally.

Walter W. Virkus, MD
Walter Virkus, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon fellowship trained in both orthopedic trauma and orthopedic oncology. With this unique background, Dr. Virkus has special interests in pelvic surgery, minimally invasive fracture surgery and bone transplant surgery. Dr. Virkus is also a member of the medical team for the Rush Center for Limb Preservation.

Dr. Virkus received his doctorate from UMDNJ, Newark, N.J. He completed his internship at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, N.Y., and his residency at the University of Maryland Medical System. Dr. Virkus’s fellowship in AO Trauma was at the Shock Trauma Center, Baltimore, Md., and the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York. His fellowship in orthopedic oncology was at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

He is an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Rush Medical College. He is also a senior attending orthopedic surgeon on the staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Ill., one of the busiest level I trauma centers in the nation. Dr. Virkus has authored numerous articles and chapters.

Patricia A. Piasecki, MSN, ONC
Patty Piasecki has been the clinical coordinator of the orthopedic cancer and transplants program since 1984 and is certified by the Orthopaedic Certification Board. She is an assistant professor of the Rush College of Nursing and has served as the clinical coordinator of the Bone and Tissue Bank of the Regional Organ Bank of Illinois, Chicago, since 1989. A member of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses and the American Association of Tissue Banks, Ms. Piasecki holds a master’s degree from the Rush University College of Nursing and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Northern Illinois University. Ms. Piasecki has made many presentations across the country and is extensively published on a range of orthopedic oncology topics, including bone grafts and bone banking.