He is an internationally recognized expert on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of bone regeneration and repair, locally applied antibiotics and minimally invasive fracture surgery. Miclau joined the UCSF Orthopedic Surgery Department in 1996 as an orthopedic traumatologist at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). He has been the chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) since 2002. He is the director of the UCSF/SFGH Orthopaedic Trauma Institute, director of Orthopaedic Trauma, and professor and vice chair of the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.