Dr. Ken Zaslav

“I help find a balance to understand when surgery is needed, and when you can help someone thrive and perform without surgery,” he says.

Dr. Zaslav has decades of experience helping high-performing athletes return to physically demanding careers as quickly and safely as possible, and finding ways for them to avoid injury in the first place. With patients of any level of athleticism, his goal is always to increase playspan: the ability to remain active without injury (or reinjury) for as long as possible.

Dr. Zaslav graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he also completed his internship in general surgery. “What drew me to orthopedics was that we could get people better and back to an active lifestyle,” he says. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Stony Brook University, then further specialized with a sports medicine fellowship at New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital. He then served as a shoulder fellow at Lenox Hill Hospital before he entered private practice.

A founding member of the Sports Medicine and Cartilage Repair Center at Advanced Orthopedics (now OrthoVirginia), Dr. Zaslav practiced in Richmond, Virginia for 30 years. He treated knee, shoulder, and elbow issues, offering surgical interventions to preserve joints as well as non-operative options like biologics, targeted physical therapy, and strength training.

During that time, he also served as a clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University, teaching medical students and residents, sharing his enthusiasm for a rapidly developing field.

The orthopedist’s toolbox has expanded drastically over the course of Dr. Zaslav’s career. Technology has evolved to allow people to stay active much longer through much less invasive techniques. “We have many ways now to preserve joints that did not exist when I started,” Dr. Zaslav says, “and that’s made a major difference in keeping people with cartilage injuries active, rather than needing joint replacements.”

As a professor and widely published researcher, Dr. Zaslav has lectured on knee and shoulder surgery and cartilage repair around the world. He served as President of the International Cartilage Repair society in Zurich, and chair of the Biologic Association here in the U.S.

“I have always been interested not just in doing the procedures, but in pushing the envelope,” Dr. Zaslav says, “and doing it with data and studies, so we can measure the impact of treatment and improve them in the future.”

Dr. Zaslav has been at the center of pioneering work in biologics. In 1996, he performed one of the first cartilage transplants in Virginia, using a patient's own cloned cartilage cells to heal a damaged knee joint. Since cartilage does not grow back once it's damaged, the treatment offers an intervention between chronic pain management and a full joint replacement. In 2023, he performed the first commercial Cartiheal procedure in the United States using Agili-C; a coral-based implant technology that stimulates cartilage regeneration.

Dr. Zaslav’s perspective is shaped by his experience with active populations, including work with several professional basketball teams, National Hockey League (NHL) teams, the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), and 26 years as the company doctor for the Richmond Ballet. He’s also taught regularly at the annual FIFA and Isokinetic Worldwide Conference on football medicine.

“My whole career has been about shared decision making,” he says. “That takes time. People can’t make good decisions without full information.” He takes the time with each patient to explain the complexities of the affected joint and relevant options, so they can make the best decision together.

Dr. Zaslav’s broader philosophy, which allows him to consider every option rather than defaulting to surgery, revolves around compassion. “I think about every case as if it were my mother, sister, or brother. What would I do for them? That is what I will do for this patient,” he says. “That’s number one.” He also factors their occupation into the care plan. “If they’re a professional athlete, we consider their contract timing and career stage. For a collegiate athlete, we often have to navigate the recruiting process.” 

Now back in New York, Dr. Zaslav continues his teaching as Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University, where he also conducts research in regenerative orthopedic medicine and surgical joint preservation at The Feinstein Institutes of Medical Research.

Before his career in medicine started, Dr. Zaslav was a musician and theater actor. His first and last professional performance found him playing the lead role in the musical Grease, a production that overlapped with his first week of medical school. He still enjoys singing, playing the guitar and piano, cycling, and skiing.