A life’s work in foot & ankle surgery
27 years at the forefront of orthopaedic medicine — combining world-class clinical practice with academic leadership, international teaching, and the advancement of modern surgical technique.
27 years at the forefront of orthopaedic medicine — combining world-class clinical practice with academic leadership, international teaching, and the advancement of modern surgical technique.
Treat the person, not just the foot. Professor Nima Heidari
Professor Nima Heidari is a Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon, specialising in foot & ankle, practising at The London Clinic, OS Clinic, and Cromwell Hospital in central London, with his NHS base at the Royal London Hospital (Barts Health NHS Trust). His sub-specialty focus is the foot and ankle, bone infection, and complex limb reconstruction — from the everyday (bunions, plantar fasciitis, Achilles injuries) through to the most complex reconstructive and limb-salvage cases referred from across the UK and internationally.
Twenty-seven years of clinical practice, doctoral research and international fellowship. Five qualifications including a doctorate from George Emil Palade University (UMFST, Targu Mures) for work on personalised predictive medicine in degenerative joint disease. Four international fellowships across the UK, France and Austria, and a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship taking him to leading limb-reconstruction and Foot & Ankle centres in the United States and Canada.
Eleven years as Chief of the Foot & Ankle Unit and the Bone Infection & Limb Reconstruction Unit at the Royal London Hospital, Europe’s busiest Major Trauma Centre, before stepping back from the NHS in November 2023 to focus on private practice and academic work. Chairs the AO Trauma UK Advanced Foot Course and the Masters Foot & Ankle course at AO Davos, and is a Professor at UMFST. The detailed timeline, qualifications, publications and teaching record follow below.
He has authored 94 publications and multiple book chapters, has been Principal or Chief Investigator on five NIHR portfolio studies at the Royal London Hospital (PATH-2, WHIST, FORTIFY, AIR, COPET), and lectures regularly at the British Orthopaedic Association, British Limb Reconstruction Society, and AO Trauma international meetings.
Languages: English and Persian.
View published research →From medical school in 1998 through to international consultant practice today — a career built on world-class training, doctoral research, international fellowship and academic leadership.
Primary medical degree (Oct 1993 – July 1998), St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London. Provisional registration with the GMC, July 1998.
Full registration granted 11 August 1999 following foundation training. .
Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England — intercollegiate membership examination, November 2001.
Sept 2003 – Sept 2004. Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, UCL. Thesis: “The effect of mesenchymal stem cells on the integration and remodelling of impaction grafting” (Distinction). Supervisor: Prof. G. Blunn, PhD.
Royal College of Surgeons of England specialist fellowship in trauma and orthopaedic surgery, November 2009.
Landeskrankenhaus Universitätklinikum Graz, Universitätsklinik für Unfallchirurgie, Graz, Austria. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A.M. Weinberg, MD.
Landeskrankenhaus Universitätklinikum Graz, Universitätsklinik für Kinder- und Jugendchirurgie, Graz, Austria. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A.M. Weinberg, MD.
University Hospital Bristol / Limb Reconstruction Unit / Bristol Royal Infirmary. Supervisor: Prof. R.M. Atkins, MA, MBBS, DM, FRCS — foot/ankle pathology and lower-limb reconstruction.
Hip and Knee Arthroplasty. Lille University Hospital, France. Supervisor: Prof. H. Migaud, MD.
Entered the GMC Specialist Register in Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery.
Barts Health NHS Trust. Chief of Foot & Ankle Unit and Chief of Bone Infection & Limb Reconstruction Unit. Set up and ran the orthoplastic limb-reconstruction service serving a referral base of 7 million across the south-eastern UK. Resigned November 2023.
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust USA/Canada Travelling Fellowship in complex limb reconstruction.
Higher Surgical Training Education Director for Trauma & Orthopaedics across the Royal London / Percival Pott programme.
Led the Bone Infection & Limb Reconstruction Unit at the Royal London — tertiary referrals from across the UK.
Chair of the AO Trauma UK Advanced Foot Fracture Course since 2016; also Chair of the AO Masters Foot & Ankle Course at Davos.
George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology (UMFST), Targu Mures, Romania. Thesis: “Personalised predictive medicine in the outcomes of biologic treatments in degenerative joint conditions”. Supervisor: Prof. Leonard Azamfirei, PhD (Rector).
Co-founder and Chairman of OS Clinic, Queen Anne Street — multidisciplinary orthoplastic limb reconstruction.
Chair in Orthopaedics at the George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology, Targu Mures, Romania.
Department of Life Sciences — visiting academic affiliation supporting cross-disciplinary research in musculoskeletal medicine.
Multidisciplinary diabetic foot pathway at 5 Devonshire Place — working with diabetologists, nephrologists, vascular surgeons, podiatry and orthotics.
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust awards a small number of fellowships each year to UK clinicians whose research promises measurable impact at home. In 2012, Professor Heidari was awarded the USA/Canada Travelling Fellowship to study international advances in complex limb reconstruction — output translated directly into NHS and private practice, and informing the development of the Bone Infection Unit and Orthoplastics Department at the Royal London Hospital.
A Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship to the USA and Canada, plus EFORT and AO Trauma international fellowships.
Author of 94 published papers and multiple book chapters, across five thematic strands. Principal Investigator on NIHR studies at the Royal London Hospital.
Most recent: Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2025 (PMID 40648923). Includes original research articles, systematic reviews, technique papers and editorials.
Foot & ankle, limb salvage and diabetic-foot care don't fit neatly into one specialty. Professor Heidari operates as part of a small, named multidisciplinary team — plastic, vascular, diabetes and practice colleagues who share patients across The London Clinic, OS Clinic and Cromwell Hospital.
Practice coordinator · OS Clinic
Day-to-day point of contact for the practice — bookings, imaging, insurance pre-authorisations and follow-up calls. The first person you’ll speak to when you call the consulting rooms.
Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon · The London Clinic
Joint operating partner on orthoplastic foot, ankle and lower-limb reconstruction. Microsurgical free-flap reconstruction, soft-tissue cover and limb salvage. Consultant page →
MBBS, BSc, MSc, MRCS, FRCS · Consultant Vascular Surgeon
Vascular assessment and revascularisation prior to and alongside foot & ankle reconstruction — critical for diabetic foot salvage and infected limb pathways. London Vascular Surgery →
Consultant Diabetologist · The London Clinic
Diabetes and endocrinology lead within the diabetic foot pathway. Glycaemic optimisation, neuropathy assessment and shared decision-making before, during and after reconstruction. Consultant page →
Course chair at AO Davos and AO Trauma UK; faculty member of seven international orthopaedic programmes; supervises higher-trainee fellows at the Royal London.
Annual masters course at AO Foundation, Davos — international faculty teaching advanced foot & ankle reconstruction.
Faculty for 7+ years, chair for the past four. UK-wide foot & ankle trauma course for higher trainees and consultants.
Royal London & Percival Pott Higher Surgical Training Rotation — trauma & orthopaedics.
Supervises post-CCT and international fellows in foot & ankle, bone infection and limb reconstruction.
BOA, BLRS, EFORT, AO Trauma international and regional meetings.
Not every foot or ankle problem needs surgery. When an operation is indicated, Professor Heidari favours the least-invasive technique that delivers a durable result — always tailored to the individual, and always agreed in partnership with the patient.
Time spent on accurate diagnosis saves years of ineffective treatment. Every consultation combines a careful history, hands-on examination, and the right imaging — nothing more, nothing less.
Physiotherapy, orthotics, injections, and supervised rehab resolve many problems. Patients are offered surgery only when the evidence — and their own goals — genuinely support it.
Keyhole (arthroscopic) and minimally invasive approaches mean less scarring, faster return to work and sport, and a more predictable recovery — where clinically appropriate.
Every technique offered is supported by published evidence and ongoing audit of outcomes. His own research has helped shape modern practice in ankle arthroscopy and reconstruction.
Close collaboration with physiotherapists, podiatrists, radiologists, plastic surgeons, pain specialists and anaesthetists — outcomes depend on the whole pathway, not just the operation.
Risks, benefits, alternatives and likely recovery — discussed openly before any decision. Patients leave consultations understanding exactly what is proposed and why.
Television, podcast, conference and press appearances — explaining foot & ankle medicine to clinical and lay audiences.
Two-minute introduction to Professor Heidari’s practice and philosophy.
Quoted in national and trade press on foot & ankle surgery.
Long-form discussion of regenerative orthobiologics and limb salvage.
AO Davos, BOA, BLRS, EFAS — recent and upcoming faculty appearances.
