Alumni Profile: Chris Chiodo ’89, MD

Finding Beauty in the Medical Arts

Chris Chiodo ’89, MD, met with Fairfield University Magazine over Zoom this past spring from his home office outside Boston. Dr. Chiodo — chiodo means “nail” or “nail maker” in Italian — is a Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon with more than 20 years of experience treating patients with foot and ankle problems.

The intersection of science and the ability to help people called the Class of ’89 alumnus to the medical field. “It’s kind of canned, but I just wanted to use knowledge to help others,” Dr. Chiodo said with an easy smile. “That’s really what it was.”

“At the end of the day, you realize what a privilege it is to be able to open the human body, to make it better, and to be trusted with that – I don’t take that for granted,” he added. “To me the interworking and bio mechanics of the human body and skeleton system are a beautiful thing.”

Originally from New York, Dr. Chiodo, a hobby pianist with an interest in science, had a “wonderful experience” at Fairfield, calling his years on campus “the four best of my life.” He fondly remembers the influences of the College of Arts and Sciences’ R. James Long, PhD, professor emeritus of philosophy, and the late Donald J. Ross, PhD, professor emeritus of biology.

“I really enjoyed sitting in Dr. Ross’s office and chatting about life. His door was always open, he was always there, and we’d talk about everything from piano to biology to philosophy. It was great,” Dr. Chiodo recalled. “Dr. Long created an intimate sense of community and offered a real cultural immersion within the honors program.”

Among many accolades during his career, Dr. Chiodo has been named among the best doctors of Boston by Boston Magazine, one of the top 26 foot and ankle surgeons in North America by Orthopedics Weekly, and has received an achievement award from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

A leader in the field of orthopedics, he serves as the delegate for the Foot and Ankle Society to the American Medical Association (AMA), recently working around the scheduling of their Chicago conference in order to at tend his 35th Fairfield Reunion this past June.

Currently the foot and ankle division chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass., Dr. Chiodo splits his time between surgery, academics, leadership roles, and men torship. For about the past decade, he has created a pipeline of internship opportunities for scores of undergraduate Stags. Working with Geoff Church, PhD, professor of the practice in the Biology Department and director of the Health Professions program, Dr. Chiodo identifies one pre-medical student each spring to join him for a lengthy summer internship.

“Chris has been an exemplary Stag,” said Dr. Church. “The summer interns have been involved in clinical research with the Chiodo team. They’ve been present for surgical procedures and have also worked on publishing their findings for a number of different research projects over the years. So far, every ‘Chiodo scholar,’ as I like to refer to them, has either published or is currently working on a publication with Dr. Chiodo, and every one of them has gone on to medical school.”

Publishing in clinical journals is an important part of competing for residencies and Dr. Chiodo has been very intentional about including Fairfield scholars as research partners and collaborators in publications of their findings.

Dr. Chiodo described his past Fairfield interns as “thoughtful, engaging, and hard working.” One of them, Jennifer Jacobs ’19, recently matched into a residency program in dermatology at Duke University. The others are working their way through medical school as first- and third-year students.

Things came full circle in 2018 when Dr. Chiodo returned to the North Benson campus as a guest lecturer in the annual speaker series named in honor of his beloved professor, Dr. Donald J. Ross.

“Dr. Chiodo remembered Dr. Ross fondly and acknowledged his influence on his early career,” Dr. Church said. “I really appreciated the way Chris connected with the students in the audience that day and very clearly showed them the impact of a Jesuit university experience and the power of a robust core curriculum. He was even quoting philosophers during his foot and ankle surgical talk!” 

Dr. Chiodo and his wife Lynne are proud parents to three grown children. The youngest of them, John Chiodo ’24, just graduated from the School of Engineering and Computing with a major in mechanical engineering. He plans to continue his studies in the graduate mechanical engineering program of the School of Engineering and Computing this fall.

To fellow alumni and future Stags, Dr. Chiodo offered, “There are many ways that you can give back – including your time, experience, and your mentorship.”

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