—  Prof Joseph Mills
Joseph L.  Mills is presently the Reid Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and Director of BCM STEP (Save The Extremity Program). After serving as the Division Chief for 10 years, he recently passed the baton of BCM Vascular Division Chief to Dr Gustavo Oderich. Before coming to Houston in 2015, he was previously Professor and Chief of Vascular Surgery and Program Director at the University of Arizona College of Medicine (1994 – 2015) and Co-Director of the Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA) in Tucson.

He has authored over 450 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters (h-Index=80). He is the first author of the SVS WIfI classification, an effort that redefined chronic limb-threatening ischemia, especially in the growing population of people with diabetes. Dr. Mills has been a co-editor of Rutherford's Vascular Surgery (7th - 9th editions). He is on numerous editorial boards including the European Journal for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery as well as the Vascular Surgery Section Co-Chief Editor for UpToDate. He has been the principal investigator for over 45 clinical trials covering a wide spectrum of vascular disease with a focus on limb salvage, chronic limb threatening ischemia and diabetic foot ulcers. He is Past-President of the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society and also served as Treasurer of the SVS (Society for Vascular Surgery), Chair of the SVS Distinguished Fellows Council, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Western Vascular Society.

Dr. Mills is a previous director of the American Board of Surgery (ABS), past Chair of the Vascular Surgery Board (2010-2013) and served a 7-year term on the ACGME RRC-S (2014-21). He is also Past-President of the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery (APDVS), the Rocky Mountain Vascular Society and the Western Vascular Society. He has extensive clinical experience in multiple practice settings, including: military; VA; county; university, and private hospitals. In June 2021, he was elected the Vice President of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) and is now a Past President of the SVS, having served as its President from 2023-24.

Dr Mills received both his BS (1977) and MD (1981) degrees cum laude from Georgetown University. He subsequently completed residency programs in General Surgery at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center (Lackland AFB), Vascular Surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University (Portland), and a Senior Endovascular Surgery Fellowship at Texas Tech University (Lubbock). He and his wife of 48 years, Margaret Schneider Mills, are the proud parents of three sons (Joseph Jr., Daniel and Andrew) and seven grandchildren (Edward, Thomas, Joseph III, Lucas, Ruth, Nolan and Samuel).

 

—  Prof David G. Armstrong
Dr Armstrong is Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Neurological Surgery with Tenure at the University of Southern California. Dr Armstrong holds a Master of Science in Tissue Repair and Wound Healing from the University of Wales College of Medicine and a PhD from the University of Manchester College of Medicine, where he was appointed Visiting Professor of Medicine. He is founder and co-Director of the Southwestern Academic Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA).

Dr Armstrong has produced more than 760 peer-reviewed research papers in dozens of scholarly medical journals as well as over 120 books or book chapters. He is founding co- Editor of the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Clinical Care of the Diabetic Foot, now in its fourth edition.

Dr Armstrong is Director of USC’s National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Center to Stream Healthcare in Place (C2SHiP) which places him at the nexus of the merger of consumer electronics, wearable’s, and medical devices in an effort to maximize hospital-free and activity-rich days.

Dr Armstrong was selected as one of the first six International Wound Care Ambassadors and is the recipient of numerous awards and degrees by universities and international medical organizations including the inaugural Georgetown Distinguished Award for Diabetic Limb Salvage. In 2008, he was the 25th and youngest-ever member elected to the Podiatric Medicine Hall of Fame. He was the first surgeon to be appointed University Distinguished Outreach Professor at the University of Arizona. He was also the first podiatric surgeon to be selected as President of Faculty at Keck School of Medicine of USC. Furthermore, he was the first podiatric surgeon to become a member of the Society of Vascular Surgery, and the first US podiatric surgeon named fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow. He is the 2010 and youngest ever recipient of both the ADA’s Roger Pecoraro Award and 2023 recipient of the ISDF’s Karel Bakker Award, the highest awards given in the field.

Dr Armstrong is past Chair of Scientific Sessions for the ADA’s Foot Care Council, and a past member of the National Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association. Dr Armstrong is the founder and co-chair of the International Diabetic Foot Conference (DF-Con), the largest annual international symposium on the diabetic foot in the world. He is also the Founding President of the American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS), a medical and surgical society dedicated to building interdisciplinary teams to eliminate preventable amputation in the USA and worldwide.