Cyrille Cazeau, M.D., M.Sc., qualified in orthopedic surgery at Paris University Hospitals in 1992. He continued his studies with a Master of Science in Biomechanics at the Arts-et-Metiers-Paritech engineering school. His interest in anthropo-paleontology and comparative zoology led him to specialization in foot surgery. His surgical training can be qualified as “classical”, inspired by the work of Weil in Chicago and Barouk in France. He was one of the first members of the French Group for Research on Minimally Invasive (MI) and Percutaneous Foot Surgery (GRECMIP), now MIFAS. Based on his work in this area, he integrated those new procedures while respecting the classical culture of foot surgery. He was the first to introduce and publish the concept of a reasonable combined MI and percutaneous surgery, included in the first edition of the French book Chirurgie mini-invasive et percutanée du pied, which he edited in 2009. After the success of this book the French publisher Sauramps Medical published a second augmented edition in 2015. As a book editor, he highlighted the prioritization of the principles a foot surgeon has to follow, i.e. complying with the mechanicals requirements described by Weil and Barouk on the forefoot load distribution, using the fundamentals of biomechanic to select immediately stable fixation and reducing approaches with new MI and percutaneous procedures.
Yves Stiglitz, M.D., M.Sc., has been an orthopedic surgeon since 2010. After a residency that included a significant amount of minimally invasive and arthroscopic procedures, he felt the need to supplement his technical skills with fundamental knowledge and achieved a Master of Science in Biomechanics at the Arts-et-Metiers-Paritech engineering school. He understood very early on that modern techniques are beneficial for the patient only when they rely on biomechanical and surgical basics, which have to be followed even when innovating. This led him to writing a geometrical analysis of hallux valgus correction, published in the second edition of the French reference book edited by Cyrille Cazeau: Chirurgie mini-invasive et percutanée du pied. He felt compelled to perfect his understanding of the entire foot, including ankle surgery, which resulted in total ankle arthroplasty becoming another of his specialist areas. He also contributed to the development of well-known Talaris Total Ankle.