Edward A. Athanasian, MD

Edward A. Athanasian, MD

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Soft tissue sarcomas
  • Hand and forearm disorders
  • Bone cancers and conditions

My Specialties

  • Hand surgery
  • Upper limb reconstruction
  • Limb salvage surgery
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Dr. Athanasian's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

As an Attending Surgeon on MSK’s Orthopaedic Service, I specialize in caring for people with upper extremity bone and soft tissue tumors. I use advanced limb salvage and reconstruction techniques.

I am also Chief Emeritus of the hand and upper extremity service at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where I perform surgery to treat bone and soft tissue conditions of the hand and upper extremity.

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My research includes a study to develop and test a validated survey that measures patients’ expectations after treatment for basilar joint arthritis. I am also doing a pilot study of treatment for carpometacarpal osteoarthritis. My cancer-related research interests include the imaging characteristics of and biopsy techniques for upper extremity tumors. I have reported the largest series of patients with soft tissue sarcoma of the hand. I am currently extending the follow-up on these patients and adding additional patients for what will be a 25-year experience. I also study postsurgical quality of life and specialized reconstruction techniques after surgery to remove tumors of the hand.

I am a founding member of the American Society for Reconstructive Transplantation, a member of numerous other orthopedic and musculoskeletal oncology professional societies, and a faculty member of the annual joint Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center/Hospital for Special Surgery/Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli course Musculoskeletal Tumor Pathology and Clinical Oncology.

What I Do at MSK

I'm an orthopaedic (OR-thuh-PEE-dik) surgeon, which is a doctor with special training in surgery on the musculoskeletal system. This includes the bones, joints, tendons, and muscles.

  • Attending Surgeon
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Soft tissue sarcomas
  • Hand and forearm disorders
  • Bone cancers and conditions
  • Ewing sarcoma
  • Osteosarcoma
  • Nerve tumors

My Specialties

  • Hand surgery
  • Upper limb reconstruction
  • Limb salvage surgery
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, Columbia University

Residencies

  • Orthopaedics - Hospital for Special Surgery

Fellowships

  • Hand and Microvascular Surgery - The Mayo Clinic
  • Orthopaedic Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Surgery
  • Orthopaedic Surgery

Awards and Honors

  • New York Magazine Top Doctors (2005-2016)

Insurance Information

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Contact and Location

Dr. Athanasian sees patients at two locations.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion
160 East 53rd Street New York NY 10022
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

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Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

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Research and Publications

Selected Book Chapters
Athanasian EA. Soft tissue tumors. Jebson PJL, Kasdan ML, eds. Hand Secrets. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Hanley & Belfus; 2001: 310-315.

Athanasian EA. Tumors: general principles. Berger RA, Weiss APC, eds. Hand Surgery. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004: 1721-1736.

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Athanasian EA. Synovial chondromatosis and pigmented villonodular synovitis. Schwartz HS, ed. Orthopaedic Knowledge Update: Musculoskeletal Tumors 2. 2nd ed. Rosemont, IL: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; 2007: 265-271.

Athanasian EA. Biopsy of musculoskeletal tumors. Damron TA, ed. Oncology and Basic Science (Orthopaedic Surgery Essentials). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008: 37-49.

Athanasian EA. Bone and soft-tissue tumors of the hand and forearm. Lieberman JR, ed. AAOS Comprehensive Orthopaedic Review. Rosemont, IL: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; 2009: 927-930.

Athanasian EA, Irons GB. Tumors of the wrist. Cooney WP III, ed. The Wrist: Diagnosis and Operative Treatment. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010: 1187-1211.

Athanasian EA. Bone and soft tissue tumors. Wolfe SW, Hotchkiss RN, Pederson WC, Kozin SH, eds. Green’s Operative Hand Surgery. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2010: 2141-2196.

Athanasian EA. Tumors. Hammert WC, Calfee RP, Bozentka DJ, Boyer MI, eds. ASSH Manual of Hand Surgery. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010: 460-470.

Athanasian EA. Treatment of enchondroma, bone cyst, and giant cell tumor of the distal upper extremity. Wiesel SW, ed. Operative Techniques in Orthopaedic Surgery. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010: 3029-3041.

Puhaindran ME, Athanasian EA.  Malignant and Metastatic Tumors of the Hand.  Hand Surgery Update 5.  American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Athanasian’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Edward A. Athanasian discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period


If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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