Foreword: Translational Research in Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Surgery

This issue on “Applied Translational Research in Foot and Ankle Surgery” is definitely a special one. Throughout my career, I have had a unique opportunity to interact and learn with several high-level PhD researchers passionate about orthopedics and foot and ankle surgery. The list is long, and it would be tough to mention all the names here, but Cesar Augusto Martins Pereira in Sao Paulo, Brent Parks and Pooyan Abbasi in Baltimore, and Daniel Sturnick and Howard Hillstrom in New York represent exceptionally well some of the basic science and translational researchers that inspired me to fall in love with foot and ankle and joint biomechanics, for example. After starting at the University of Iowa as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Orthopedic Functional Imaging Research Laboratory, I have then had the honor to have the respected Don Anderson to serve not only as my primary mentor but also as an unbelievable friend and supporter, teaching me a lot in different areas of research and academics. With all that in mind, I thought that an issue on applied translational research in foot and ankle surgery would serve well the Foot and Ankle Clinics of North America followers and readers, and Don Anderson was an easy and obvious choice to serve as Guest Editor. He has done an outstanding job, putting together a roster of the most influential translational researchers that focused their careers on the orthopedic foot and ankle. The authors covered different topics, such as ankle instability, gait simulation, alignment, finite-element analysis and shape-modeling, ankle arthritis and total ankle replacement, diabetic foot, syndesmotic injuries, congenital foot and ankle disorders, and more, from a PhD translational research perspective. I’m sure this will be a landmark issue of Foot and Ankle Clinics of North America and will serve as a strong reference for researchers and clinicians to consult about translational research in orthopedic foot and ankle surgery.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Have a great, blessed, and healthy 2023!