Diabetic Foot Society of India honors a career devoted to preventing limb loss and mentoring specialists worldwide
Bangalore, India – October 3, 2026 — The American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS) congratulates Robert G. Frykberg, DPM, MPH, on receiving the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Diabetic Foot Society of India. The award was presented on October 3, 2026, at DFSICON, the society’s annual conference, in Bangalore, India.
The honor recognizes nearly five decades of work advancing diabetic foot care and limb preservation, together with Frykberg’s lifetime of mentorship to diabetic foot specialists around the world. His career reflects priorities central to ALPS: advancing the science of limb preservation, supporting interdisciplinary care and preparing the next generation of clinicians to prevent avoidable amputations.
The award citation recognizes Frykberg’s contributions to the understanding and management of diabetic foot ulcers, Charcot foot and neuropathic arthropathy, infections, wound healing and off-loading. It also highlights his scholarship and its influence on clinical practice, medical education and lower-extremity amputation prevention.
His legacy extends through the clinicians he has mentored. By sharing knowledge across specialties and national borders, Frykberg has helped successive generations of specialists develop their approach to caring for people at risk of diabetes-related limb loss.
Following the presentation, Frykberg delivered “The Menace of Diabetic Gangrene,” an oration tracing the history of diabetic limb preservation from Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1930s to the present day. The historical perspective underscored the continuing urgency of this work: nearly 100 years later, gangrene remains a limb-threatening consequence of diabetes and frequently leads to amputation.
As partner organizations, ALPS and the Diabetic Foot Society of India share a commitment to advancing diabetic foot care and preventing avoidable amputations through education, collaboration and limb preservation. Frykberg’s lifetime of achievement and mentorship reflects these shared goals and ALPS’s mission to eliminate preventable amputations over the next generation.
Frykberg is a professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at UT Health San Antonio and a past president of the International Association of Diabetic Foot Surgeons and the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.
About American Limb Preservation Society
The American Limb Preservation Society (ALPS) works to eliminate preventable amputations over the next generation. It advances limb preservation through interdisciplinary collaboration, research, clinical care, advocacy and education, with an emphasis on access to specialized care and mentorship of future clinicians and scientists. Learn more.
About the Diabetic Foot Society of India
Founded in 2002, the Diabetic Foot Society of India (DFSI) advances diabetic foot care through professional education, training and the exchange of research and clinical knowledge. Its programs serve physicians, surgeons, nurses and other health professionals. Its annual conference, DFSICON, brings clinicians together to share advances in diabetic foot care. Learn more.