Los Angeles, California, United States
Fabrizio Billi is an accomplished researcher, educator, and innovator with over two decades of experience at UCLA, where he serves as the Director of the Biomedical Innovation and Motion Intelligence Group (BIMIG). His work bridges bioengineering, orthopaedics, and advanced technologies, with a strong focus on machine learning, wearable devices, and motion analysis. Fabrizio's research approach is rooted in addressing real-world clinical needs, blending bottom-up discovery with impactful solutions. He is also an advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration, co-chairing the Digital Orthopaedics Conference San Francisco (DOCSF) and spearheading initiatives to redefine mobility as a measure of health. Alongside his academic pursuits, Fabrizio is an avid reader and writer exploring themes of AI, humanity, and technological evolution.
Leading a translational research program at the intersection of orthopaedic surgery, motion intelligence, biomedical innovation, and AI-enabled health technologies. The work focuses on turning human movement, wearable sensing, clinical context, and functional outcomes into actionable insight for musculoskeletal diagnosis, recovery monitoring, treatment selection, and performance restoration. Current areas include AI-enabled motion biomarkers, wearable and sensor-based assessment, digital rehabilitation, functional outcome prediction, and device-based or regenerative approaches for musculoskeletal repair. The program bridges engineering, clinical orthopaedics, rehabilitation science, sports medicine, and computational methods to develop technologies that are clinically meaningful, scientifically rigorous, and centered on human recovery.
DOCSF Science is the first event to showcase the best scientific evidence supporting the adoption of digital health tools in orthopaedics.
Owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles, the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center serves as a major teaching hospital and a general acute care facility. The Orthopaedic Clinics provide a rich and diverse educational experience in outpatient management and long-term patient follow-up care. Serving a regional population of 1.7 million residents in the southwest Los Angeles County, the Orthopaedic Clinics are highest in volume only with approximately 56,000 outpatient visits annually, averaging 4,667 patients per month. The Department also leads all surgical services in volume at approximately 4,000 cases per year. The recently renovated ORs provide the state-of-the-art facilities and are the best equipped in the western states.
Direct and coordinate the work of technical staff in the laboratory. Direct and supervise the work of PhD and graduate students. Direct the selection of new laboratory equipments Provide technical and managerial support for research and product testing projects with industry partners. Manage the workload of personnel and research schedule to meet the contract's obligation. Report directly to Director of Research. Accomplishments: - International Award Recognition: 2011 John Charnley Award, The Hip Society - Developed new protocols for debris isolation from wear tests, tissues and synovial fluids - Developed new protocols for failure analysis of implants and components - 22 publications (peer reviewed and international conference proceedings) - Obtained contracts with industrial partners and funds to fully support the laboratory
Setting-up and manage a new laboratory for debris analysis and characterization, especially in the nanometer size range Develop test programs, protocols and equipment necessary to complete the project. Manage calibration, safety, maintenance and efficient utilization of testing equipment. Accomplishments: Development of new technique to isolate metal particles from serum samples for metal-on-metal wear testing for spinal, knee, and femoral joint arthroplasty Design and construct of a novel orthopaedic wear-testing simulator for a new artificial intervertebral disk prosthesis (research project funded by an industrial partner). Development of new wear-testing protocol for specimen preparation, loading, and intermittent and final surface and specimen characterization. Modification of orthopaedic implant fretting wear simulator to create cross-path motion, characteristic of in vivo wear patterns. Recent studies include a comparative analysis of the differences in modular total knee replacement backside wear of UHMWPE as a function of metal alloy, surface finish, and micromotion (research project funded by an industrial partner). Fretting wear studies on PMMA cement pins against stems with different surface finishes (collaboration with industrial partner