Worth a Life’s Work: From the Hopkins Dome to University of Maryland KITES Keynote #ActAgainstAmputation

Some meetings fill a notebook. A few fill the heart. The past two days did both.

Two days, one through-line

Yesterday, I had the rare joy of walking through Johns Hopkins with Alexandria and Natalie—moving beneath the Dome, climbing above it, and looking out over Baltimore from a place so closely tied to the history of medical teaching. On the eve of September 11, it felt impossible not to think about wounding and healing, memory and responsibility, and the institutions and people we build to care for one another.

Today, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s KITES symposium, those reflections became wonderfully practical. The subject was limb preservation, but the real lesson was teamwork: what becomes possible when vascular surgery, podiatry, nursing, advanced practice, wound care, reconstruction, rehabilitation, policy, and patient-centered judgment all travel in the same direction.

A family moment—and a professional one

Watching Alexandria chair the ALPS “Limb Salvage Road Trip” session was deeply moving. She brought warmth, calm, curiosity, and momentum to a lively conversation about the three-minute diabetic foot examination, revascularization decisions, top-of-license teaming, and the detours and dilemmas of real-world limb preservation.

Sharing that session with her—and with Dr. Ronald Sherman, her mentor from Johns Hopkins—gave the moment an added sense of continuity. Mentorship is one of medicine’s great forms of preservation. Knowledge moves from one generation to the next, and then comes back to us renewed.

Teaming up to eliminate preventable amputation

My keynote was titled “Teaming up to Eliminate Preventable Amputation: Worth a Life’s Work.” That phrase has never felt more apt. The work of keeping a person whole, mobile, independent, and connected to family is never the achievement of one clinician or one discipline. It is the work of a team—and often of a team that has learned to act before the clock runs out. I was introduced by a rising star whose star as really risen already– Jake Wynes– a gifted podiatric surgeon and the programs co-chair.

At the close of the meeting, I was presented with a plaque recognizing the keynote and a dedication to advancing limb salvage. I was touched beyond words. I will treasure it, but I see it less as a personal award than as a reflection of the community that has made this work possible.

A roll call of gratitude

My heartfelt thanks to course leaders Jake Wynes and Shahab TourSavadkohi, and to Eleanor “Nora” Dunlap and Shannon Hawkins for the extraordinary thought, care, and humanity they brought to the gathering. Thank you as well to Georgia Krehbiel for helping shape the ALPS session, even though family called her elsewhere today.

The ALPS panel was a joy. I am grateful to Alexandria Armstrong, Ronald Sherman, Olamide Alabi, Khanjan H. “KJ” Nagarsheth, Karen Bauer, Shannon Hawkins, and Nora Dunlap. Olamide’s clarity and moral force, KJ’s practical wisdom, Karen’s stellar contribution, Ron’s mentorship, and Nora and Shannon’s ability to make multidisciplinary teamwork feel natural all made the hour sing.

And congratulations and thanks to every colleague who taught, moderated, questioned, demonstrated, or otherwise contributed across the two-day program: Julie Gilkeson, Andy Meyr, John Martin, Michael Siah, Javaneh Jabbari, Nicholas Petruzzi, Nelson Bernardo, Justin Nelms, Richa Kalsi, Katherine Raspovic, Kristen Roberts, Yvonne Rasko, Arthur Nam, Rajabrata Sarkar, Elizabeth Ann Genovese, Justin Robbins, Jayson Atves, Bob Tahara, Sarah Sample, Michael Berger, Jake Wynes, Shahab TourSavadkohi, Olamide Alabi, KJ Nagarsheth, Karen Bauer, Ronald Sherman, Shannon Hawkins, Nora Dunlap, and Alexandria Armstrong.

On a day marked by loss, it felt especially meaningful to gather around the work of preservation. The plaque will hang on a wall. What I hope stays with me is the room: people from different disciplines, generations, and institutions choosing to team up so that someone else can keep moving through the world on two feet.