Faculty & Alumni Highlight: Bo Foreman and Bart Gillespie
WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEETS PATIENT CARE Although
distinguished
in
their
own
individual
pursuits,
the
collaboration between Bo Foreman, PT, PhD, faculty member and class of 1994 and Bart Gillespie, PT, DPT class of 2002 is showing signs of being even more significant to the amputation community that has come to define so much of their work and research.
Dr. Foreman first studied engineering, but soon switched to physical therapy when he decided he wanted to pursue a career working more directly with people. In physical therapy school, he developed a
love of anatomy under the guidance of former department chair
and anatomy teacher Dr. Carolee Moncur. He then proceeded to earn
Bo Foreman and family
his
PhD
Department Medicine.
under
of
His
the
guidance
Neurobiology education
in
and
of
Dr.
Kurt
Anatomy
engineering,
Albertine
within
the
physical
in
the
School
therapy,
of
and
anatomy, combined with assistance from Dr. Lee Dibble, Dr. Paul LaStayo
and
Dr.
Andy
Anderson
helped
him
found
the
Motion
Analysis Core Facility. Since opening the lab, he has developed collaborations
across
campus
and
the
country,
performing
biomechanics research and ultimately joining the osseointegration research team directed by Dr. Sarina Sinclair and Dr. Kent Bachus.
More than anything else, collaboration is what drives Dr. Foreman. He says he is lucky to work with such a smart group of people and is constantly learning from those around him. One of those people is
Bart Gillespie and family
Dr. Bart Gillespie.
Dr. Gillespie began in outpatient orthopedic physical therapy after graduating from physical therapy school before working in the area of
inpatient
physical
Administration
therapy
Medical
and
Center
wound (VA).
care He
at
the
soon
Veterans
joined
the
osseointegration team at the VA because, from the ground up, the implant was being designed with a rehab model in mind. He was involved in the earliest stages to help formulate what the therapy would look like and how to make it effective.
The two of them, alongside researchers from the Bone and Joint Research Lab at the VA, bioengineering, orthopaedics, infectious disease,
plastic
surgery
and
others,
are
currently
researching
osseointegration to increase functional mobility and the quality of life
in
people
who
have
extremity limb amputation.
Bart Gillespie testing research subject 5 The Summit Fall 2021
received
lower
extremity
and
upper
