Mark Reiley is a retired Orthopedic Surgeon.  He is best known for his medical invention of Kyphoplasty, a procedure that treats the pain caused by osteoporotic spine fracture in the elderly, as well as iFuse, a minimally invasive surgical implant system.  Dr. Reiley also founded seven orthopedic device companies (Si-Bone Inc. is the last one he started), two of which went to public with IPO’s and two were sold/acquired by medium-to-large medical companies.  His medical inventions have helped thousands of patients to relieve from their pains (i.e., lower back pain) and improved quality of life. 

 

During Mark's career, in additional to being a surgeon, he has had over 200 medical device patents issued. In 2008, Dr. Reiley was awarded the Phoenix Lifetime Achievement in Medicine. 

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“I have painted much longer than I practiced medicine.”  Dr. Reiley started oil painting when he was in Sardinia Italy for Christmas at age 21.  Many decades later, he is still slinging paint onto canvases with brushes or fingers or anything that is handy.  

 

“One of my favorite pieces was from 1971 - a view of ‘old Italy’.  We lived on a dirt road in the farmland of Sardinia, and everyday farmers would drive their horses down the road sitting on a two wheeled cart.  On the way out the back of the cart was empty.  On the way back home (eight hours later) there would be a few pieces of firewood.  To say the farmer was driving was a bit of a misnomer.  He held the reins, but the horse was taking him home.”  That’s the vivid memory Dr. Reiley would enjoy talking to family and friends. “I spent one hundred hours trying to capture the rickety wagon, the farmer’s job and the horse’s job.  Gamely I picked up a brush and very few colors. I was a rank beginner and tried continuously for 100 hours.”  Back then, he knew nothing about color or brush strokes or composition, all he knew was he wanted to paint an atmospheric piece with a dead tree, a calm horse and an expressionless Sardinia driver who seemed to know where his world stood.  Many years later, Dr. Reiley became a well-known orthopedic surgeon and inventor, his love of painting stays with him.  

 

Dr. Reiley received his MD from George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC. He now splits his time with his wife between Washington DC and Florida. Besides his paintings, he writes. He has finished and published two novels, The Corsican Dove and The Beijing Duck, both under a pseudonym.