Dr. Aenor Sawyer

Dr. Aenor Sawyer is an orthopedic surgeon, innovator, and space health specialist whose career encompasses clinical medicine, health technology, and human performance in extreme environments. After a career in physical therapy, Sawyer earned a master's degree in human physiology, a medical degree from the University of California, Davis, and completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at Stanford University. She pursued fellowship training in pediatric orthopedic surgery and pediatric and adolescent sports medicine through the Harvard orthopedic program at Boston Children's Hospital. This combination of clinical disciplines informs her integrative approach to musculoskeletal care.

As a UCSF orthopedist, Sawyer is founder and director of the Skeletal Health Service, where she applies her expertise as an orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist, and exercise physiologist to optimize bone health for patients across the lifespan. Her research interests include childhood bone development, which she pursued as an adjunct clinical scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and as director of the Pediatric Bone Health Consortium. Sawyer's clinical research covers sports injury prevention, anterior cruciate ligament repair, and osteoporosis.

Sawyer has expertise in remote care, space health, and medical management as director of the UC Space Health Program, and previously served as chief health innovation officer for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, a NASA-funded program. Her published research includes co-authored work on "Biomonitoring and Precision Health in Deep Space Supported by Artificial Intelligence" in Nature Machine Intelligence, as well as studies on ocular conditions in spaceflight and physiological adaptations of women in space. Her experience in remote medical management includes 15 years as an expedition medic and medical advisor for extreme ocean rowers, and she conducts research with the Australian Antarctic Division on remote medical monitoring.

Sawyer has more than two decades of health technology experience in the development and evaluation of device, digital health, and informatics solutions, and a decade of experience in medical care in extreme remote environments. She is a member of the UCSF IT Governance Committee, co-founder and co-director of the UCSF Center for Advanced 3D+ Technologies, co-founder of the Center for Digital Health Innovation, and a UCSF Health Hub board member. She also co-founded Trinity, a HIPAA-secure virtual tumor board platform, and Mobius, a mobility device for fall prevention.

External roles include chair of the MCRI Health Technology Advisory Board, advisor to the UCSF Invest Fund, advisor to ANDHealth, external advisory board member of the Scripps Translational Sciences Institute, and prior associate editor of Nature's Digital Medicine journal. Sawyer serves as executive director of innovation and entrepreneurship in UCSF Innovation Ventures, a role focused on translating scientific advances into practical applications. With expertise in orthopedics, space medicine, digital health, and remote care, Sawyer provides insight to audiences in medicine, technology, and related fields.