Lawson Copley, M.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Dr. Lawson Copley provides orthopaedic trauma and clinical coverage at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, along with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children orthopaedic medical staff. Dr. Copley graduated magna cum laude from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and received his medical degree from Kansas University Medical Center. He completed both his internship in general surgery and his residence in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Copley also completed the Dorothy and Bryant Edwards Fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics and Scoliosis at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Dr. Copley served in the United States Air Force as chief of surgical services, 96th Medical Group.

Education

Medical School: University of Kansas School of Medicine (1991)
Internship: University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (1992), General Surgery
Residency: University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (1996), Orthopaedic Surgery
Fellowship: Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (1997), Pediatric Orthopaedics

Research Interest

Clinical outcomes of the surgical treatment of osteomyelitis, septic arthritis and pyomyositis in children
Epidemiology of Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Musculoskeletal Infections in Pediatric Patients.
Genetic virulence factors of Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus

Publications

Joint fluid multi-omics improves diagnostic confidence during evaluation of children with presumed septic arthritis: Peña-López Y, Tareen NG, Zhang B, Raman I, Arana CA, Zhu C, Liu Y, Selvakumar P, van Oers NS, Morris S, Hooper LV, Copley LA, Raj P Pediatric Rheumatology 2025 Dec 23
Mitigating Risk of Acute Kidney Injury Among Children With Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Osteomyelitis: Challa L, Villani MC, Hachem AA, Ma Y, Jo C, Patel K, Firmani S, Copley LA Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 2025 Feb 45 e172-e178
Management of Syndesmotic Injuries in Children and Adolescents: Results of a Cross-Sectional Survey of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeons: Author Collaboration CS, Williams CE, Stewig B, Lee SW, Shore BJ, May CJ, Janicki J, Hedequist D, Heyworth B, Brighton B, Denning JR, Ramalingam W, Murphy JS, Sanders J, Goldstein RY, Koehler R, Baldwin K, Jennifer Laine L, Truong W, Spence D, Schoenecker J, Beebe A, Rickert KD, Upasani VV, Blumberg T, Lindberg A, Hill J, Rosenfeld SD, Copley LA, Johnson M, Ramo B, Riccio AI, Swarup I, Li GY, Miller M Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Global Research and Reviews 2024 Aug 8
Clinical Practice Guideline by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA): 2023 Guideline on Diagnosis and Management of Acute Bacterial Arthritis in Pediatrics: Woods CR, Bradley JS, Chatterjee A, Kronman MP, Arnold SR, Robinson J, Copley LA, Arrieta AC, Fowler SL, Harrison C, Eppes SC, Creech CB, Stadler LP, Shah SS, Mazur LJ, Carrillo-Marquez MA, Allen CH, Lavergne V Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2024 Jan 13 1-59
Differentiating between Knee Septic Arthritis and Lyme Arthritis in Children: A Clinical Prediction Algorithm for a Geographically Diverse Population: Li Y, Bommineni M, Baldwin KD, Sanborn RM, Cook D, Shore BJ, Beebe AC, Blumberg TJ, Copley LA, Denning JR, Goldstein RY, Heyworth BE, Hill JF, Johnson ME, Laine JC, May CJ, Miller ML, Moore-Lotridge SN, Murphy JS, Ramo BA, Riccio AI, Rosenfeld SB, Sanders J, Schoenecker JG, Spence DD, Truong WH, Upasani V Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 2024
Accelerated Severity of Illness Score Enhances Prediction of Complicated Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis in Children: Jahan TA, Lapin NA, O'Connell MT, Jo C, Ma Y, Tareen NG, Copley LA Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 2024
What's New in Pediatric Septic Arthritis? A Review of Pertinent Clinical Questions: Hachem A, Copley LA Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 2023 Oct 43 578-583
Age and CRP Associated with Improved Tissue Pathogen Identification in Children with Blood Culture Negative Osteomyelitis: Results from the CORTICES Multicenter Database: Burns JD, Upasani VV, Bastrom TP, Baldwin KD, Schoenecker JG, Shore BJ, Brighton BK, Goldstein RY, Heyworth BE, Miller ML, Sanders JS, Truong WH, Janicki JA, Hedequist DJ, May CJ, Murphy JS, Denning JR, Laine JC, Spence DD, Beebe AC, Rickert KD, Lindberg AW, Blumberg TJ, Rosenfeld SB, Hill JF, Copley LA, Johnson ME, Ramo BA, Riccio AI, Li GY, Moore-Lotridge SN, Koehler RJ, Stepanovich M, McLaughlin D, Fletcher N, Owen J, Arkader A, Ramalingam W, De S, Sheffer B, Larson J, Kadado A, Lempert N, Meyer Z, Swarup I Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 2023 Sep 43 E603-E607
Staphylococcus aureus isolates from children with clinically differentiated osteomyelitis exhibit distinct transcriptomic signatures: Hachem AA, Filkins LM, Kidane YH, Raj P, Tareen NG, Arana CA, Muthukrishnan G, Copley LA PloS one 2023 Aug 18
Comparison of Procalcitonin With Commonly Used Biomarkers and Algorithms for Evaluating Suspected Pediatric Musculoskeletal Infection in the Emergency Department: Van Der Laan L, Gaines N, Van Horn N, Jo C, Ma Y, Copley LA Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 2023 Feb 43 E168-E173

Honors & Awards

Best Oral Presentation for Patient Care
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Research Symposium (2018)
Best Basic Science Paper Award
European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society/Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (EPOSNA); Barcelona, Spain (2017)
EMP 66 Commencement Speaker
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Evanston, IL (2007)
96 Air Base Wing Commander’s Recognition Award
(2001)
Fellow of American Acadeny of Orthopaedic Surgeons
(2001)
Meritorious Service Medal
Surgical Operations Squadron Medical Group Eglin AFB Florida (2001)
ARCENT Kuwait Command Surgeon’s Recognition Award
(2000)
Commander in Chief’s Special Recognition for Installation Excellence
(2000)
Stanley M.K. Chung Award for Excellence in Pediatric Orthopaedic Research
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (1996)
Alpha Omega Alpha
Medical National Honor Society (1991)
Phi Sigma Tau
Philosophy National Honor Society (1985)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

Aerospace Medical Association
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
American Medical Association
Candidate Fellow of the Scoliosis Research Society (2002-2003)
Dallas County Medical Society
European Society of Pediatric Infectious Disease
Kansas Medical Society (1987-1991)
Mid-American Orthopaedic Association (2001-2002)
Musculoskeletal Infection Society
National Association of Doctors (1998-2001)
Orthopaedic Research Society
Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America
Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgerons of North American
Pennsylvania Medical Society (1991-1996)
Society of American Family Physicians (1989-1991)
Texas Medical Association
Texas Orthopaedic Association
Texas Society of Sports Medicine