Advancing Traumatology Together

Pape has been closely associated with the AO Foundation for many years. He was and is active internationally as a faculty member, and in recent years has acted, among other things, as chairman of the RIA Task Force*. He remembered what had happened to him during his very first trip to Davos: "In connection with my early research on intramedullary reamer systems, I received an invitation to present my data to Prof Stephan Perren and his group at the AO Foundation. I was so excited about the personal invitation to the leading research center of the world that I left one of my two bags on the train when I was changing trains in Sargans. Fortunately, the conductor recognized it and decided to throw it through the window onto the platform from the departing train. Luckily it wasn't the one with the laptop that had my data!"  

Pape's visit to Davos led to further research and clinical studies and a change of ideas in intramedullary reamer systems, which later helped the development of the RIA and RIA II systems. According to Pape, the MoU between the USZ’s Department of Trauma and the AO Foundation could also offer fertile ground for new collaborations and innovations: “It will intensify the regular exchange of ideas and offers young students and doctors the opportunity to further their research. I also hope that it will pave the way for further collaborations between the AO Foundation and the University of Zurich (UZH) as well as the many partners of UZH.”

*RIA is a Reamer Irrigator Aspirator used in preparing the femur before nailing fractures.