LECOM Alumna Arianna Gianakos, DO, Marks Noteworthy Achievement

In each issue of the LECOM Connection, readers meet Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) scholars and alumni, practitioners and professionals, who, in their academic achievements and explorations, and in their daily work stir the heart of their Alma Mater with great pride.

In that continued spirit, LECOM extends renewed congratulations to Arianna Gianakos, DO, a 2016 graduate of LECOM Bradenton and currently an orthopedic resident at Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health Medical Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Dr. Gianakos matched into her top choice fellowship at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts with a fellowship in a foot and ankle specialty. She is the first Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine ever selected for the prodigious program. The Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital Foot and Ankle Fellowship is one of the most highly regarded fellowships in the United States.

A bevy of important research has buoyed Dr. Gianakos’ success. She has submitted a plethora of orthopedic surgery peer-reviewed publications, orthopedic surgery book chapters, podium presentations, and poster presentations. She was the lead author of a

piece entitled, Sex-Specific Analysis in the Orthopaedic Literature as a feature article in the journal, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. Her work analyzed and evaluated gender disparity in orthopedic surgery.

Dr. Gianakos also was lead author of an article entitled, Microfracture May Reduce Radiologic and Clinical Outcomes of Ankle Distraction Arthroplasty at Medium Term Follow Up, featured in a podcast series offered by the journal, Foot and Ankle International.

As a stalwart LECOM advocate, Dr. Gianakos recognizes the importance of her role models and mentors; leaders in medicine from LECOM and throughout the country who have become the pillars of her career.

“I am especially grateful to the wonderful LECOM professors who helped guide my medical school training so that I would be confident in myself as a physician as I entered residency,” averred the accomplished alumna.

Noting three factors that make a great orthopedic surgeon - a foundation of sound medical education, clinical knowledge, and research - Dr. Gianakos explained that her goal as a rising foot and ankle fellow is to utilize the skills that she has gained as a physicianscientist to continue her commitment to remain in the forefront of research in the field of foot and ankle surgery.

There exists a close alumni community with a common history and a shared purpose at LECOM; one that takes particular note of its progeny. “During the last few years, I have had the opportunity to present my research nationally and internationally and I have received several scholarships along the way,” wrote Dr. Gianakos in her latest letter to the LECOM Administration.

Recently, Dr. Gianakos received the first ever IONA and Sports Medicine International Travel Fellowship Award. The mini fellowship consists of six months of sports medicine and in-office needle arthroscopy training during which she will have the opportunity to work with world leaders in the USA and in Europe. As Dr. Gianakos will be the first fellow in this program, the logistics of the fellowship is still evolving, but she is scheduled to begin the program in the summer of 2022.

The LECOM alumna also was accepted this year into the PhD Program at the University of Amsterdam, with Harvard as the United States sponsoring institution. Currently, Dr. Gianakos is undertaking courses for her PhD in Gender Studies in Orthopedic Surgery, which she hopes to complete at approximately the same time that she completes her dual fellowships.

The grateful LECOM graduate reiterated laudatory remarks about the College in her recent letter to the Administration; and LECOM echoes its profound pride in the accomplishments of this distinguished alumna.