• i-FAB launched at ISB in Taipei

• Membership progress

• Being truly International

• 1st i-Fab Congress 4-6th September 2008

• Developing international standards for foot and ankle biomechanics

• New Steering Group member

i-FAB launched at ISB in Taipei

It has been just 6 months since we launched the i-FAB initiative and presented the vision of closer collaboration between people from academic, industry and clinical practice related to foot and ankle biomechanics. Following a day of foot and ankle sessions we gave a 15 minute introduction to the aims, objectives and activities the i-FAB initiative hopes to pursue. We got a positive response and just short of 40 membership applications on the day!

Membership progress

Since the launch in early July membership has grown steadily, and now stands at 216. We expect to see this exceed 260 by the time of the i-FAB congress in September 2008. Who knows how many people there are worldwide working on biomechanics research related to the foot and ankle? It is one of i-FAB’s aims to uncover this global community.

We now have on line registration available and would like to ask all existing members to consider sending an email to all their collaborators, colleagues and contacts to invite others to join. Membership is presently free and creating a critical mass of people will be essential to delivering on the i-FAB objectives.

Being truly International

Membership thus far (see left) demonstrates the global interest in foot and ankle biomechanics.

Also, 28% of members are studying, so we have a strong student community. 79% of members are in academia, 27% in clinical practice and 15% in industry. Many i-FAB members have dual roles in clinical practice and academia or industry. Many members have yet to complete their full profile but their will be opportunity for updates in the new year.

The dominance of the “usual suspects” (North America and Europe) is to be expected because we know there are strong research groups in each of these areas.

However, to make i-FAB a genuinely international initiative, and engage the full global community of foot and ankle biomechanics researchers and research users, we need to reach further afield. We are therefore taking proactive steps to identify people and research groups in Russia and Asia. If you have contacts in these and other less well represented areas we would warmly welcome your help in contacting possible members. Given the hosting of ISB 2009 in Cape Town some members from African nations would be very welcome.

1st i-FAB Congress 4-6 September 2008

Join us all in Bologna! The meeting will be hosted at the internationally renowned orthopaedic hospital and research institute Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy. Our host will be Alberto Leardini. The congress programme will include two tutorials, including live dissection, two consensus meetings and keynotes lectures covering academic, industry and clinical issues (including a lecture from the President of the European Society of Biomechanics). Of course there will be time for podium and poster presentations by delegates and i-FAB members. Abstracts are welcome in any area related to foot and ankle biomechanics and from any discipline and sector. Details of abstract submission will be announced shortly.

ABSTRACT DEADLINE - February 28th 2008

There will also be a strong social programme with tours of the beautiful ancient city of Bologna. The Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli is based in a historic site, being a converted monastery and retaining many important and fascinating original features (having just returned from there it is a beautiful place to visit). Of course, as ever, we will be spoilt by the choice and quality of Italian foods and wine

So put the date in your 2008 diary now!

Developing international standards for foot and ankle biomechanics

One of i-FAB’s most important objectives is to facilitate improved collaboration internationally and to assist in advancing the field of foot and ankle biomechanics. Standardisation of measurement protocols, data management and reporting, and terminology are a critical element to achieving this. Of course ISB led initiatives have already made good progress and i-FAB wishes to build on these.

We are now able to pursue the first two i-FAB standardisation initiatives:

1. “Standardisation of Co-ordinate Systems for the Foot and Ankle”. We are pleased to announce that this work will be led by Prof. Sorin Siegler from Drexel University, USA. This activity will seek to expand on the existing ISB recommendations (Wu et al. 2002) which Sorin was heavily involved with. This will deal not only with issues such as co-ordinate system definitions and their relationship to underlying anatomy, but also joint rotation definitions.
2. The second initiative is “Standardization of Foot and Ankle Descriptive Terminology”. This will be led by Dr Thomas Greiner from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA, who has already published on this issue.

We will be working with both Sorin and Thomas over the coming months to organise appropriate methodologies and work towards consensus activities at the September 2008 Congress.

New Steering Group Member

The i-FAB steering group are pleased to confirm that Peter Cavanagh, Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic (USA) has joined the steering group as of January 1st 2008.

Best wishes to you all.

i-FAB Steering Group