Meet The Experts - Vol. 5

Mr. Michael Dierks - SIMEG Manager

At ICSJSRR 2024, we presented Mr. Michael Dierks with a Lifetime Recognition Award to honor his many years of contributions. He played a key role in founding Sacroiliac Medical Expert Group (SIMEG) and supported our activities for 11 years. Without him, we, sacroiliac joint experts, would never have come together to form this group.

With Michael, we have been on an amazing journey to discuss how to diagnose and treat sacroiliac disorders, a condition that was previously unknown. On September 23, 2024, after the conference in Graz, I visited his home, which also serves as the SIMEG office (Fig.1).

Due to his illness, he has stepped down and was unable to attend the conference. It felt strange to be at the event without him, but even during this difficult time in his life, he continued to give so much to our group. I presented him with the award certificate (Fig. 2) as a symbol of our deep appreciation.

Michael is also a Blues- and Rock musician (Fig. 3), and he never led an "ordinary" life.

After leaving high school, he toured with his band, met his wife and they became 4 children. He searched for a job and eventually joined a company that dealt with surgical instruments and total joint  implants. He improved his English skills and got involved in the early introduction of pedicle screws with Dr. Patrick Kluger (✝ 2021)  in Germany and founded his own company Allocon GmbH to develop spinal implants. Always looking for something new, he had a life-changing encounter with the sacroiliac joint device, DIANA.

When Dr. John Stark’s surgical technique was introduced to Germany, no one knew much about the sacroiliac joint or if DIANA would be effective. There were different surgical methods—lateral, anterior, and others—and it wasn’t clear which one was best for different types of sacroiliac joint problems. This showed the need for a global platform where experts could meet and discuss these issues, leading to the creation of SIMEG.

Fig 4: SIMEG constitutional meeting, Sept. 23rd, 2013.
^{Founding members
left (front to rear): Dr. Pascal Militzer, Dr. Ulrike Laupichler, Dr. Jens Mechler
right (rear to front): Dr. Michael Kammal, Dr. Volker Fuchs, Dipl. Ing. P. Dreißig, Prof. Engelbert Seeber, Michael Dierks, Dr. Uwe Dott}

SIMEG is not a group that pushes one treatment and excludes others. Instead, it’s a forum where experts share their knowledge about the unknown field of sacroiliac joint disorders.

At this visiting, I first heard from him that the SIMEG was founded with a great vision of creating a “Global Standard” for classifying, diagnosing, and treating sacroiliac joint disorders, much like AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen) has done for orthopedic trauma.

My conversation with Michael strengthened my commitment to develop SIMEG toward this great mission further. We must stay neutral and not become too closely tied to any one company. Instead, we will maintain fair and equal relationships with many industrial companies and organizations involved in both conservative and surgical treatments for the sacroiliac joint. Like AO, our goal is to gather the world’s best knowledge and share it globally at the highest level.

Together with our new President, Dr. William Cross, I look forward to moving toward this goal.

Dankeschön, Michael! We will never forget you.

Daisuke Kurosawa