Fabrizio Billi, PhD

Research

Dr. Fabrizio Billi directs the Biomedical Innovation & Motion Intelligence Group (BIMIG), a research group focused on developing Motion Intelligence tools for musculoskeletal care, rehabilitation, and functional outcome assessment, with a particular commitment to pediatric orthopaedics and adolescent sports medicine. His work integrates motion analysis, wearable sensors, computational modeling, and artificial intelligence to translate gait and functional data into clinically meaningful insights that can support diagnosis, treatment selection, rehabilitation monitoring, return-to-activity decisions, and prediction of outcomes.

A central theme of his laboratory is data-efficient clinical AI: identifying the smallest practical sensing configuration needed to generate reliable clinical information, rather than relying on overly instrumented systems. His group uses dense reference systems, systematic signal analysis, wearable sensors, and AI-based inference models to determine which signals are necessary, which are redundant, and which are most useful for real-world musculoskeletal care.

His current work includes wearable sensing for gait and functional assessment, rehabilitation monitoring, smart assistive devices, pressure-sensing systems, and AI-supported interpretation of movement. At LOIC, this includes a continued focus on translating motion data into tools that can support pediatric orthopaedic decision-making, rehabilitation planning, assistive device development, adolescent sports injury recovery, return-to-play assessment, and long-term functional monitoring.

His research also explores next-generation functional measures, including mobility, biomechanical aging, clinical readiness, and uncertainty, as well as the use of biophysical stimulation to inform future therapeutic devices and regenerative strategies.

Dr. Billi’s research program is strongly translational, with an emphasis on moving from laboratory measurement toward practical tools that can be used in clinics, rehabilitation settings, sports medicine, and pediatric orthopaedic care.

Specialties

Motion Intelligence
Pediatric Orthopaedics and Adolescent Sports Medicine
Gait Analysis
Wearable Sensors
Data-Efficient Clinical AI
Functional Outcome Assessment
Pediatric Orthopaedic Technology
Rehabilitation Technology
Sports Medicine Technology
Smart Assistive Devices
Pressure-Sensing Systems
Orthopaedic Technology Translation
Biophysical Stimulation and Regenerative Engineering
Biomaterials and Biomechanics

Education

PhD, Materials Engineering – Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy, 2000
MS, Chemical Engineering, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy, 1995

Affiliations

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• American Society of Metals (ASM)Society for Biomaterials (SFB)
• European Society for Biomaterials (ESB)
• Foresight Institute
• Italian Association of Materials Engineering (AIMAT)
• Italian Society of Biomechanics in the Orthopaedic and Traumatological Field
• Italian Society for Biomaterials
• Italian Professional Engineers Association
• Materials Research Society (MRS)
• Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS)

Awards and Recognition

• Invited chair of Session 28 “Bone Failure Mechanisms and Assessment”, International Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, 2013
• Stein Oppenheimer Award – University of California Los Angeles, 2012
• Lloyd Taylor Award – Western Orthopaedic Association, 2011
• June Marshall Award – Extraordinary Achievement in Orthopaedic Research – Orthopaedic Hospital, 2008
• Elinor Barry Fellowship – Orthopaedic Hospital (for 3 consecutive years), 2002-2004
• Marie Curie Fellowship – European Commission (3 years), 1998-2000
• Italian Government Doctorate Fellowship (4 years), 1996-1999
• Cavalieri del Lavoro (Italian top Industrialists) Fellowship (for six consecutive years), 1982-1987

Research and Publications

1. A. Kavanaugh, T. Schmalzried and F Billi Factors Influencing the Initial Strength of the Tibial Tray-Cement Interface Bond Bone Joint J, 2013 vol. 95-B no. SUPP 34 98
2. F Billi, C Iglesias, E Onofre, RM Lozano, B Perez-Maceda, JC Rubio, ML Escudero, MC Garcia-Alonso Characterization of Oxidized TIAlV after Fretting-Corrosion Tests Using Near-Field Microscopy British Journal of Surgery 2013, 100, 13-16
3. Pedowitz RA, Billi F, Kavanaugh A, Colbert A, Liu S, Savoie FH, You Z. Arthroscopic surgical tools: a source of metal particles and possible joint damage.
4. Stavrakis AI, Niska JA, Loftin AH, Billi F, Bernthal NM Understanding Infection: A Primer on Animal Models of Periprosthetic Joint Infection. ScientificWorldJournal. 2013 Sep 22;2013:925906. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/925906
5. RA Pedowitz, F Billi, A Kavanaugh, A Colbert, S Liu, FH Savoie, Z You Micro-particles From Arthroscopic Tools May Induce A Pathologic Cascade Mediated by Synoviocytes Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery 29 (6), e10-e10 (SS-20); doi:10.1016/j.arthro.2013.03.027
6. A. Kavanaugh, P.Benya, F.Billi A Method to isolate and characterize metal debris from synovial fluid and periprosthetic tissue ASTM – STP1560 August 2012
7. Zhang D, Page JR, Kavanaugh AE, Billi F. A New Method for Shape and Texture Classification of Orthopaedic Wear Nanoparticles. J Appl Biomater Function Mater. 2012 Sep 27;10(2):e141-8. doi: 10.5301/JABFM.2012.9680.
8. Niska JA, Shahbazian JH, Ramos RI, JR Pribaz, F Billi, KP. Francis, and LS. Miller Daptomycin and Tigecycline Have Broader Effective Dose Ranges than Vancomycin as Prophylaxis against a Staphylococcus aureus Surgical Implant Infection in Mice. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. May 1, 2012;56(5):2590-2597.
9. F. Billi, E. Onofre, E. Ebramzadeh, T. Palacios, M.L. Escudero, M.C. Garcia-Alonso Characterization of modified Ti6Al4V alloy after fretting–corrosion tests using near-field microscopy Surface and Coatings Technology, Available online 27 September 2012, ISSN 0257-8972, 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2012.09.034
10. Ascenzi MG, Liao VP, Lee BM, Billi F, Zhou H, Lindsay R, Cosman F, Nieves J, Bilezikian JP, Dempster DW. Parathyroid hormone treatment improves the cortical bone micro-structure by improving the distribution of type I collagen in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. J Bone Miner Res. 2011 Dec 8. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.1497. [Epub ahead of print]