Keynote: Footwear and Insole Design to Prevent Diabetic and Neuropathic Plantar Forefoot Ulcers: Findings from A series of N-of-1 Trials

Sayed Ahmed is a Bangladeshi-bred Australian pedorthist, researcher and entrepreneur in the healthcare business. His experience includes over a decade in footwear and foot care. Having a degree in footwear engineering & technology and being a Certified Pedorthist Custom Maker, Sayed has travelled through fashion, comfort and orthopaedic footwear domains in all operational aspects. He has also submitted his PhD thesis at Southern Cross University, Australia. As part of his PhD project, he has conducted a multisite clinical trial in some Sydney hospitals and clinics to explore best clinical practices for diabetes-related foot ulcer management and prevention through appropriate footwear.

Sayed founded the pedorthic services company “Foot Balance Technology” operating from Sydney, Australia, in 2016 and has expanded the operation in Bangladesh since 2018. He is also the founder of the medical device manufacturing and supply company “OrthoGenix PtyLtd”. Sayed is the co-founder of EYM (Ease Your Motion), a digital health-tech startup in Sydney, Australia.

He has a part-time role as an Honorary Pedorthist at Dept. of Health, New South Wales Govt.(the Offloading Clinic at Nepean Hospital, Sydney) and an access appointment with SA Health. Sayed also works as an interdisciplinary High-Risk Foot Services team member at StVincent’s Hospitals Network, Sydney and War Memorial Hospital in Sydney since 2018.

He is also a committee member of the Foot Network Working Party of the National Associations of Diabetes Centres (NADC), Australia. Sayed is one of the co-authors of the High-Risk Foot Services (HRFS) standards by NADC, which is the key service standard for high-risk foot care in Australia.

Sayed is a former board member of the Pedorthic Association of Australia (PAA). He was awarded as “Top 100 Healthcare Leaders” by International Forum on Advancementin Healthcare (IFAH), the USA,in 2019 and the “Outstanding Leadership Award” in 2022 by Health 2.0 Conference, Dubai, UAE.

Sayed is actively involved in academic lecturing and public speaking in his professional domains, both nationally and internationally. He has published scientific articles in some leading international journals such as the Journal of Foot & Ankle Research, BMC Trials, JMIR mHealth and uHealth, and MDPI sensors.

Sayed lives in Sydney with his wife Raina and son Zayyan who are excellent sources of inspiration for him, and the list includes his family, friends and mentors.