Leadership

Our Leadership

Rafael Gonzalez, DPM, FACFAS

Dr. Gonzalez joined St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in 2006 and has been the Podiatry Residency Program director since 2010. He graduated from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine in 1998 and completed his residency training in Foot and Ankle surgery at Kern Hospital/Detroit Sinai Grace Hospital in Michigan in 2001. After residency training, he was in private practice in Denver, Colorado where he became experienced in all aspects of foot and ankle surgery as well as lower extremity wound care with emphasis on diabetic foot wound care. He then relocated to Connecticut where he has been in private practice since 2006 in the town of Bloomfield.

Dr. Gonzalez is a diplomate of the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery and a Fellow at the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. He has been a certified wound specialist (CWS) for over a decade and is also a member of the Connecticut Podiatric Medical Association and the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Gabriel Gambardella, DPM, FACFAS

Dr. Gambardella has been in private practice in the Greater Hartford area since 2014 and has been operating at St. Francis Hospital during this time. He was appointed Section Chief of Podiatric Foot and Ankle Surgery, in the Department of Surgery, in 2021. Dr. Gambardella was educated at Columbia University and Harvard University and received his medical degree from Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, where he served as class president. Following graduation, he completed his residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital and received the prestigious Residency Excellence Award upon his graduation.

Dr. Gambardella has been active in resident education since he graduated from residency. He has published multiple articles in peer reviewed journals, authored chapters in two medical textbooks, and lectures throughout the country on surgical techniques about the foot and ankle. Dr. Gambardella is board certified in foot surgery, and reconstructive rearfoot and ankle surgery, and is a Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. His surgical interests include reconstruction of complex foot and ankle deformities, limb preservation including Charcot reconstructive surgery and surgical wound reconstruction, arthroscopy, and foot & ankle trauma.