Chair of Miller School’s Department of Orthopaedics Honored at International Meeting
The International Society of Limb Salvage celebrated the achievements of outgoing president, Dr. Francis Hornicek, the Miller School’s professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedics.
Francis Hornicek, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, was recently honored at a black tie dinner held at the 2024 meeting of the International Society of Limb Salvage (ISOLS), of which he is now past president.
Established in the U.S. in 1981, ISOLS is an international organization of doctors who perform reconstructive surgery after removing malignant tumors of the bones and soft tissues of the spine, pelvis and extremities.
“This gathering marks a significant moment in the field of limb salvage, where experts and innovators from across the globe come together to exchange knowledge, share experiences and advance our collective mission of enhancing the quality of life for patients facing limb-threatening conditions,” Dr. Hornicek wrote in the program for the 2024 meeting.
Brooke Crawford, M.D., M.B.A., associate professor of clinical orthopaedics, Marilyn Heng, M.D., M.P.H., FRCSC, professor of clinical orthopaedics, and Zhenfeng Duan, M.D., Ph.D., research professor of orthopaedics, from the Miller School also attended the meeting.
An Organization with Global Reach
While there are a number of national musculoskeletal tumor societies, what sets ISOLS apart is its truly international nature.
“It’s one of the few organizations that’s global, from the board to its members,” said Dr. Hornicek. “We have representation from Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas—every continent but Antarctica. It makes it a bit of a challenge, but it’s also interesting to have international representation and presentations.”
Highlights of the meeting, held October 8-11 in Brisbane, Australia, included discussions of the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on limb salvage.
“There was a lot of discussion about how these tools might be used to lessen the number of complications, as well as how they might be categorized,” Dr. Hornicek said. “Assessment of function is important, especially now with people using biosensors to tell you how fast they’re going, how many steps they take, all those things.”
A Long and Productive ISOLS History
Dr. Hornicek first became involved with ISOLS in 1995 when he presented two papers at the meeting in Florence, Italy. He has since served on the board for 11 years. As president for the past three years, he pursued a number of strategic planning initiatives.
One successful initiative was aimed at increasing participation in the organization by increasing the functionality of the society’s various committees.
“Now we have functional committees: education, bylaws, ethics, research, membership and so on. They’ll be reporting back to the board, the organization and the members at large. So we’ve restructured the organization to help us deal with some of the problems in participation,” he said.
In addition to growing the board to make sure it was truly representative of the society’s global membership, Dr. Hornicek also started a young surgeons’ conference, a day at the annual ISOLS meeting during which newcomers to the field could choose a topic for experts to discuss. He also devoted a day to limb surgery in developing countries. As outgoing president of ISOLS, Dr. Horncek was fêted at the meeting with a black-tie dinner. Poet Rupert McCall moderated the event. David Schlect, M.D., author of “Hope: A Cancer Doctor’s Life Secrets,” made the honorary address.
Tags: Department of Orthopaedics, Dr. Francis Hornicek, International Society of Limb Salvage, ISOLS