The Orthotic and Prosthetic Education and Research Foundation (OPERF)
Inc. announced that Don Katz, CO, LO, FAAOP, has been awarded the
organization’s second Tamarack Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Orthotic
Science and Practice.
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| Don Katz |
Katz has been a certified orthotist for more than 25 years and is a
Fellow of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (Academy). He
served on the Academy board of directors for 9 years and was president from
2003 to 2004. He also served on the executive board for the Texas Chapter of
the Academy for 10 years.
After completing his residency at the Newington Children’s Hospital in
Connecticut in 1986, Katz accepted a position at the Texas Scottish Rite
Hospital for Children in Dallas where he has worked ever since. He currently
serves on the hospital’s administrative staff while maintaining a clinical
practice within the orthotics department.
Katz’s research into reciprocating gait orthoses and other lower
limb orthoses, such as those used in the treatment of Blount’s disease, as well
as more extensive investigations of spinal orthoses used in the treatment of
adolescent idiopathic scoliosis has influenced multiple professions and helped
to define standards for clinical practice in these areas, according to a press
release.
He has authored or co-authored 12 publications in a wide range of
respected, peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the Journal of
Bone and Joint Surgery, Spine, the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics,
and the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics. He is also a key
contributor to one of our profession’s most respected texts, the American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ Atlas of Orthoses and Assistive
Devices.
He has received many honors, including the Thranhardt Lecture Award in
1997, 2000 and 2005 and was awarded the Academy’s prestigious Award for
Research in 1997.
