Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center

The Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center is dedicated to educating professional, student and amateur dancers on how to prevent and minimize dance-related injuries. An innovative partnership between Cedars-Sinai and the University of Southern California's School of Dramatic Arts,  the center is led by Glenn Pfeffer, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Foot and Ankle Program at the Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedic Center and Margo Apostolos, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Dance at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

In addition to its educational goals, the Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center provides specialized treatment services for injured dancers and conducts research in the prevention and treatment of movement-related injuries.

Educational Efforts

Dancers, regardless of their level of ability, face risk of injury because of the stress that dance activity places on the body's musculoskeletal system. In addition, newcomers to dance may be unfamiliar with the limits of their own bodies or those of their dance partners. Experienced professional dancers may feel pressure to ignore minor problems until they become chronic or disabling. The Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center can provide dancers throughout Southern California with useful information on injury prevention through a wide range of educational programs. The center's educational efforts also target student dancers at USC through classes taught by Dr. Apostolos and her colleagues.

Click here  to read an article in the Daily News about our specialized treatments for dancers.

Help for a Wide Range of Injuries

Dance-related injuries may involve bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments or joints. The lower back, feet, ankles and knees of dancers are particularly vulnerable. When such injuries do occur, the Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center can assist dancers' recovery from:

Specialized Treatment for Dancers

The Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center offers specialized therapies for injured dancers at the Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedic Center. The goal of treatment is to rapidly return patients to their prior level of activity with no permanent limitation. The center emphasizes an educational approach, with physicians taking the time to fully explain to each patient the steps he or she must take to make a full recovery and avoid future injury.

The center takes full advantage of Cedars-Sinai's diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative resources, including:

  • Comprehensive, on-site imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scanning
  • On-site physical therapists and physiatrists
  • Expertise in diagnostic arthroscopy

In the 2012-13 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals issue, Cedars-Sinai once again ranked among America's best in Orthopedics.


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