The University of Arizona Department of Pediatrics and the University of Arizona Health Network welcome new faculty member Mo Mortazavi, MD, assistant professor, to the Division of General Pediatrics.
A board-certified pediatric sports medicine physician, Dr. Mortazavi is developing the first dedicated pediatric sports medicine program in Tucson—scheduled to launch Aug. 19 at the UAHN Children’s Multi-Specialty Clinic at Wilmot.
Dr. Mortazavi received his medical degree from the University of California, Davis, where he also completed his pediatrics residency. He then earned a fellowship in pediatric sports medicine at Children’s Colorado in Denver. While there, he focused on musculoskeletal injuries, concussion care and pediatric fractures. Since then, Dr. Mortazavi has expanded his practice to include exercise prescriptions for athletes with chronic illness, sports nutrition and injury-prevention programs.
As an undergraduate student at UC Davis, Dr. Mortazavi played Division IAA football as a wide receiver for four years. He finished his senior football season while in medical school and was the only NCAA Division I athlete enrolled in medical school. While in medical school Dr. Mortazavi worked with teen-age athletes with type 1 diabetes and researched the role of athletics in improving their health outcomes. Prior to graduating medical school in 2008, he played in the European Football League for two years as a player-coach, for teams in Austria and Italy.
During his pediatrics residency at UC Davis, Dr. Mortazavi returned to Italy to work as an assistant sports physician, treating his former teammates on the Bergamo Lions, fueling his interest in musculoskeletal ultrasound and ECG screening for prevention of sudden cardiac death in athletes. Dr. Mortazavi’s current research interests include injury prevention, concussion prevention and management and prevention of sudden cardiac death in athletes.