Brian Feeley, MD
Brian Feeley, MD is the Chief of the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, and is currently a Professor in Residence. He grew up in the Bay Area, and received his bachelor of science degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine before serving his residency in the UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He completed a sports medicine and shoulder fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, where he also served as an assistant team physician to the New York Giants. He has been at UCSF since 2008.
Dr. Feeley's clinical focus is on athletic injuries of the shoulder and knee and the use of minimally invasive/arthroscopic procedures to treat these problems. In the shoulder, he treats rotator cuff tears/impingement, shoulder instability and labral tears, clavicle fractures, shoulder arthritis and shoulder replacement with reverse shoulder arthroplasty. In the knee, he treats ACL and other ligament injuries, meniscus tears, cartilage injuries, and early arthritis.
Dr. Feeley performs research on common shoulder and knee problems. In the shoulder, he is studying the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the development of muscle atrophy after rotator cuff tears. He runs an NIH- and VA- funded lab studying how muscle stem cells result in changes to the muscle tissue, and how to stimulate these cells to differentiate in ways to improve muscle function after orthopedic injuries (http://feeleylab.ucsf.edu).
In the knee, he is evaluating techniques to use low cost motion analysis to improve lower extremity kinematics and decrease injury and re-injury risk after injuries and surgical procedures.
He has published over 300 peer reviewed articles, review studies, and book chapters, as well as a book on rotator cuff injuries. He serves on the NFL Musculoskeletal Committee, and sits on several national orthopedic research and leadership committees.He is currently funded by the NIH and VA for his research, and was the 2014 Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award winner from the OREF and ORS. In 2017, he won teaching awards from the UCSF School of Medicine and a research award from the AOSSM. In 2020 and 2021, he won the Neer Award for outstanding research from the ASES for his work with rotator cuff stem cells and rotator cuff repair outcomes. Along with his colleagues from the stem cell lab, he won the AOSSM Excellence in Research Award in 2021 and in 2023 won the Cabaud Award from the AOSSM for Excellence in Basic Science Research.
Dr. Feeley is currently the team physician for St. Ignatius College Prep High School. He also serves as the UCSF sports medicine associate fellowship director and associate program director for the UCSF Orthopedic Surgery residency. He is an avid surfer, and prefers Ocean Beach, San Diego, and Kauai for surfing. In his spare time he watches his 5 children's sports teams in the Bay Area and collaborates on the UCSF Sports Medicine podcast (6to8weeks.ucsf.edu).