Jonathan A. Forsberg, MD, PhD
Orthopaedic Surgeon
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Areas of Expertise
My Specialties
- Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas
- Pediatric Sarcomas
- Metastatic Bone Disease
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About Me
- Attending Surgeon
I am an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in the care of children and adults with rare bone and soft tissue cancers called sarcomas. These include soft tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and chondrosarcoma.
My special interests include improving quality of life for patients with metastatic bone disease and restoring function to those who receive major limb amputations. Beyond sarcomas, I also treat noncancerous tumors of the bones and soft tissue. Each year, I perform approximately 200 surgical procedures for patients with cancerous and noncancerous conditions that require surgery.
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I love what I do. The best part of my job involves solving problems with patients together. In cancer surgery, each patient’s tumor is different; this creates the need for thoughtful, creative, and personalized solutions, such as custom surgeries or implants. If a custom implant is the right choice for a patient, we will design one to accommodate their unique needs. During consultations and visits, patients will find me to be attentive, calm, and informative. I take time to educate patients on the different treatment options available to them, and I never let a question go unanswered.
I grew up in the mountains of Montana, a son of a veterinarian who lived a humble life of service, dedication, and compassion. My father bestowed these qualities, along with a healthy work ethic, upon my siblings and me quite early in life. We learned to care for animals, as well as those less fortunate than ourselves. By teaching us to do so, my father instilled within us a sense of duty and commitment — something that I carry with me to this day.
To that end, service is important to me. I spent 32 years on active duty and was inspired to do so by my father and sister, who were Naval and Air Force officers, respectively. To fulfill my desire to serve, I decided to delay college and enlisted in the Marine Corps. There, I served as an infantryman until I matriculated to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
The Academy trains leaders in a variety of specialties, but it was my interest in becoming a surgeon that led me down a path that is not common in military service. Rather than fly, lead Marines, or go to sea, I entered medical school. I’ve been a student of engineering for as long as I can remember. I learned to improvise, adapt, and overcome as a U.S. Marine and then studied chemistry and engineering at the Naval Academy. When I went on to medical training, I became fascinated with the biomechanics that govern how human body moves. Orthopaedic surgery was the natural choice for me.
We were at war for my entire residency. The joint replacements and the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions that we expected to perform were replaced by blast wounds. As extremity specialists, we focused on cleaning wounds, saving the limbs that we could, and amputating those that we could not save. We helped advance the field of limb-sparing surgery and redefined amputation as a reconstructive procedure that would allow our young, previously healthy patients to return to active lifestyles. During this time, I began to ask relevant research questions and write grants. It became clear to me that I would pursue a life as a surgeon-scientist.
On an “away rotation” in residency, I met an orthopaedic oncologist and assisted him in surgery. I watched as he excised a sarcoma, then reconstructed the shoulder blade and humerus to restore function. I’d never seen anything like it in all of my training. As I look back on this experience, it is humbling that such a chance encounter —one that exposed me to new ideas and surgical possibilities— became an opportunity and later, a passion that would translate to a rewarding career.
After I completed my residency in orthopaedic surgery, I went to war as part of a small surgical team. We did our best to save lives and limbs, even as we struggled to understand the physiology behind the terrible wounds that we saw. After I returned home, I began my fellowship training in orthopaedic oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Here, I drew on my father’s lessons in compassion, dedication, and duty. I found these qualities to be instrumental to the care of patients with cancer. Later, to support my goal of becoming a surgeon-scientist, I earned a PhD in Applied Bioinformatics from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
Like the Naval Academy, MSK trains leaders. I have led several teams of researchers throughout my career, conducted multicenter clinical trials with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and directed the Department of Defense’s Osseointegration Program. With colleagues in Sweden, I continue to co-direct the International Bone Metastasis Registry and its team of international collaborators.
As a professor of orthopaedic surgery, one of the most rewarding aspects of my job is teaching the next generation of surgeon-scientists. Together, we have helped answer some very important research questions, develop new analytical methods and surgical techniques, and designed and patented unique implants. Our efforts have helped standardize the approach to patients with metastatic bone disease and provide creative surgical solutions to those who had lost hope.
When I’m not in the hospital, I enjoy reading, cooking, and playing golf or tennis if time allows. I sailed competitively in college and enjoy the occasional sailboat race with my friends and family.
An orthopaedic (OR-thuh-PEE-dik) surgeon is a doctor with special training in surgery on the musculoskeletal system. This includes the bones, joints, tendons, and muscles.
My Specialties
- Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas
- Pediatric Sarcomas
- Metastatic Bone Disease
- Benign Bone Tumors
- Prosthetic Reconstruction
- Osseointegration
Education
- PhD, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
- MD, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine
Residencies
- Orthopaedic Surgery, National Naval Medical Center
Awards and Honors
- Ellis Island Medal of Honor, The Ellis Island Honors Society, 2017
Fellowships
- Orthopaedic Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Board Certifications
- Orthopaedic Surgery
Insurance Information
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PPO, POS, EPO, HMO
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PPO, HMO, DSN
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HMO, PPO
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HMO, EPO PPO, POS
In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO
Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.
In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO
In Network Coverage Type
PPO
In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO
Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.
In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS
Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.
In Network Coverage Type
HMO
In Network Coverage Type
PPO
In Network Coverage Type
EPO
In Network Coverage Type
EPO
In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government
In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO
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State Government
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If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.
If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.
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New Patients
Current Patients
Contact and Location
Dr. Forsberg sees patients at two locations.
Looking to see a doctor at a different location? See all MSK locations.
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.
Clinical Trials
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.
Search clinical trialsResearch and Publications
Anderson AB, Wedin R, Fabbri N, Boland P, Healey J, Forsberg JA. External Validation of PATHFx Version 3.0 in Patients Treated Surgically and Nonsurgically for Symptomatic Skeletal Metastases. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2020 Apr;478(4):808-818. doi: 10.1097/CORR.0000000000001081 PMCID: PMC7282571.
Forsberg JA, Healey JH, Brennan MF. A probabilistic analysis of completely excised high-grade soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity: an application of a Bayesian belief network. Ann Surg Oncol. 2012 Sep;19(9):2992-3001. doi: 10.1245/s10434-012-2345-z. Epub 2012 Apr 20. PMCID: PMC5262491.
Zaid MB, OʼDonnell RJ, Potter BK, Forsberg JA. Orthopaedic Osseointegration: State of the Art. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2019 Nov 15;27(22):e977-e985. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-19-00016.
Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Forsberg’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.
Jonathan A. Forsberg discloses the following relationships and financial interests:
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Balmoral Inc.
Professional Services and Activities -
MT Innovations
Professional Services and Activities
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Onkos Surgical
Intellectual Property Rights; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
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].