Charles Goldfarb, MD
Charles Goldfarb, MD is the inaugural Richard H. Gelberman Distinguished Professor and is the Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University. Charles is an active hand and upper extremity surgeon caring for routine hand conditions with two special areas of focus. He treats children with birth differences of the upper extremity including those with missing bones, extra digits, deformity, and dysfunction. He also cares for athletes with upper extremity injuries, from the professional, to the high- level adolescent and collegiate athlete, to the weekend warrior.
Goldfarb’s clinical interests drive his research program, primarily focusing on advancing the understanding of birth differences of the upper extremity, including surgical outcomes, the classification of rare conditions, and improving our understanding of limb formation. He has more than 200 publications, has edited/ co-edited 10 books, and speaks regularly nationally and internationally. He is particularly proud of establishing the CoULD Registry in 2014 which has grown to include 14 hospitals nationally (and an additional 20 hospitals awaiting inclusion) with increasing international collaboration and more than 35 research projects that are changing the field. Goldfarb has been a mentor and contributed to the education of more than 50 hand surgery fellows, nearly 150 residents and a variety of other learners.
He is Treasurer and on the Board of Directors of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and is the St Louis Board Chair for the World Pediatric Project. Goldfarb is the co- host of a popular podcast with nearly 400,000 downloads, The Upper Hand: Chuck and Chris Talk Hand Surgery. Charles graduated from Williams College and received his MD from the University of Alabama. He completed his residency in orthopedics at Washington University and his fellowship in hand surgery at the University of Cincinnati. He has spent his entire career at Washington University School of Medicine.