We are proud to announce creation of the new FARIL International initiative on President’s Day, February 20th, 2023.
We firmly believe that patients benefit when a diverse team of clinicians and researchers work to bridge geographic distances. Accordingly, for years the Foot & Ankle Research and Innovation Laboratory (FARIL) at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has been global in its mindset, attracting the best and brightest minds from around the world to spend time in our facility translating foot and ankle research from the benchtop to the bedside. FARIL International is, therefore, a natural expansion of FARIL, representing a groundbreaking initiative that empowers a network of orthopaedic scientists, clinicians, and researchers from around the world to advance foot and ankle research while physically located in their home countries. FARIL International has been created to provide the physical and human resources, logistical support, and appropriate platform to enable a team-based approach to exchange knowledge and share skillsets across the global network of experts needed to drive meaningful progress in this field. As the first of its kind worldwide, FARIL International focuses its mission on being the world leader for the advancement of innovative solutions to currently unsolved orthopaedic challenges for the foot and ankle populations we serve. It is comprised of an extended network of current and past FARIL clinicians, scientists, researchers, and innovators who currently serve as ambassadors from different countries spanning four continents and who are devoted to working together in concert with FARIL’s Boston-based multidisciplinary research team. This new platform promises to facilitate previously challenging large scale database studies, multi-center prospective and retrospective clinical trials, biomechanical research, and cadaveric experiments that incubate novel device development and evolve new diagnostic and treatment techniques to long standing therapeutic patient care dilemmas. Imagine clinical studies whose patient participants are genuinely representative of our global diversity, or AI solutions that are built explicitly to avoid ethnocentric bias by incorporating global datasets. FARIL International can catalyze such realities alongside nationally and internationally based collaborative workshops, seminars, lectures, and educational courses with the aim of educating, guiding, and encouraging orthopaedic research, innovation, and contribution on behalf of both our patients and their providers. This initiative envisions a uniquely empowered ability to drive breakthroughs in foot and ankle orthopaedic care that empowers clinicians and improves the quality of life for our patients worldwide.
– Christopher W. DiGiovanni
FARIL International Ambassadors
FARIL International- India
Dr. Siddhartha “Sid” Sharma is an orthopedic surgeon from India is an Associate Professor of Orthopedics at the highly regarded Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) located in the beautiful city of Chandigarh. A Surgical Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, United Kingdom, Dr. Sharma possesses a deep-rooted interest in the fields of foot and ankle surgery and lower limb deformity correction. With Ph.D. dissertation on talar malunions, Dr. Sharma’s innovative research holds the potential to transform the landscape of clinical practice in resource-constrained settings. He has been honored with several research awards and secured research funding from national and international agencies. His areas of research expertise encompass an array of subjects, including cadaveric and biomechanical studies, the study of bone healing in experimental models and distraction osteogenesis, as well as virtual modeling and rapid prototyping. Dr. Sharma was instrumental in establishing the Foot and Ankle Biomechanics Experimentation and Research (FABER) Laboratory at PGIMER, Chandigarh, which aims to advance foot and ankle research in developing countries. Dr. Sharma is FARIL International Ambassador in India.
FARIL International- Turkiye
Dr. Bedri Karaismailoglu is an orthopaedic surgeon and Assistant Professor at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, a premier academic institution and the oldest university in Turkiye. He earned his medical degree from Hacettepe University in Ankara and completed his residency in Orthopaedics and Traumatology at Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical School. He is European-board certified orthopaedic surgeon and is focused on foot and ankle surgery, while also pursuing a PhD in Anatomy. His studies have been distinguished with international awards from various scientific societies. His research at FARIL involves the evaluation of various patient-specific and innovative surgical methods through cadaveric and biomechanical experiments, and utilizing 3D virtual bone models to examine the impact of bone osteotomies on extremity alignment and surgical outcomes with the objective of enhancing surgical techniques and optimizing clinical outcomes. Dr. Karaismailoglu also serves as co-founder and co-director of the Cerrahpasa Research, Design and Simulation Laboratory (CAST) at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa. CAST is a cutting-edge research center that brings together health and engineering technologies to develop innovative products through advanced 3D technologies such as virtual models, 3D modeling, bioprinting, and AR/VR applications. CAST aims to address various disorders across different specialties and to be a hub where health and engineering technologies converge to develop novel products. Dr. Karaismailoglu is FARIL International Ambassador in Turkiye.
FARIL International- Belgium
Dr. Matthias Peiffer is an aspiring Senior Orthopaedic Surgery Resident from Ghent, Belgium. While working on his PhD, which is focused on Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Treatment of foot and ankle diseases, he continued to pursue his research endeavors at FARIL. His clinical interest is mainly centered around sports, trauma and deformities of the foot and ankle. In previous years, he has published several innovative research studies in the field of 3D musculoskeletal modeling and patient-specific treatment planning of traumatic foot and ankle lesions. His main goal is to translate this knowledge in daily clinical practice by integrating advanced 3D imaging, biomechanical outcome prediction models and computer-assisted surgery platforms. His home center, the University hospital of Ghent orthopaedic department, has extensively contributed to the advancement of patient-specific foot & ankle modelling, 3D therapy planning of complex lower limb surgery and biomechanical joint prediction models. The Ghent foot and ankle department was one of the founding partners of the Weightbearing CT International Study Group and has published numerous A1 scientific articles to validate WBCT as diagnostic tool and valuable addition to the state-of-art regarding assessment of syndesmotic lesions and hindfoot (mal)alignment. Dr. Peiffer is FARIL International Ambassador in Belgium.