Specialisation & research path

As part of a one-year research stay in 1999 at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, I wrote my doctoral thesis on the joint axes of the foot - a project supported by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Basel was honoured.

After working as a senior physician at the University Hospital Basel I continued my specialisation in 2007 as part of a clinical fellowship in foot and ankle surgery at the renowned Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. This fellowship was the only ACGME-certified programme in the United States in the field of foot and ankle surgery - a fact that makes me the only Swiss foot and ankle specialist with this specific qualification to this day.

During my fellowship, I researched the biomechanical principles of ligament guidance in the ankle and foot, particularly with regard to the correct balancing of the ligaments during the implantation of ankle prostheses. For this work, I was awarded the prestigious Leonard Goldner Award the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) This is the highest honour in the field of basic research in foot and ankle surgery. It was the first Leonard Goldner Award that Duke University had ever received.

Merian M, Glisson RR, Nunley JA
Ligament balancing for total ankle arthroplasty: an in vitro evaluation of the elongation of the hind- and midfoot ligaments.
Foot & Ankle Int. 2011; 32(5 Suppl): S457-472.
DOI: 10.3113/FAI.2011.0457 PMID: 21733454

My fascination with the biomechanics of the foot remains unbroken to this day, which is why I continue to carry out basic research in my spare time. The focus of my research is on the development of a holistic treatment concept for foot and ankle surgery. The aim is not to limit surgical treatment to individual techniques according to the diagnosis, but to follow a comprehensive concept that restores the biomechanical norms of the foot in the best possible way.
My internationally published treatment concept for the correction of fallen arches and flat feet has been studied by over a thousand colleagues specialising in foot and ankle surgery in a renowned international journal. For the first time, it offers clear and practice-orientated guidelines for the surgical treatment of these deformities.

Merian M, Kaim A
The Plantar Fascia Talar Head Correlation: A Radiographic Parameter With a Distinct Threshold to Validate Flatfoot Deformity and Its Corrective Surgery on Conventional Weightbearing Radiographs.
Foot & Ankle Int. 2022; 43(3): 414-425.
DOI: 10.1177/10711007211052258 PMID: 34802299

I am currently working on a new treatment concept that takes into account the biomechanical principles for correcting common foot problems such as hallux valgus (big toe X), hallux rigidus (joint stiffness), splayfeet, hammertoes and metatarsal arthrosis. This concept complements my previous research into correcting deformities in the hindfoot and combines it with disorders in the midfoot and forefoot.

The treatment concept is published in an international specialist journal and reviewed by experts to ensure the best possible care for patients.