Educational and work history

I was born in Udine and attended primary school and high school there. After studying medicine and surgery in Trieste, I began working as an internist at the Casa di Cura Città di Udine. After five years of work there and completing my first specialization, I won a position as a physiatrist assistant in the Spinal Rehabilitation Unit at the Gervasutta Hospital in Udine. After seven years in that position (during which I advanced to Level 1 Medical Director), I became the contact for the Severe Acquired Brain Injury Unit at the same hospital, responsible for activating and managing the unit, which initially had ten beds and quickly grew to twenty. After seven years of this experience, I transferred to the Early Intensive Rehabilitation Unit at the Udine Hospital, where I primarily worked in outpatient settings and as a consultant in various medical and surgical departments.

In 2015, I ended my experience as a public employee, continuing my activity at Linfamed Srl, where I still work.

Since then I have been a consultant physiatrist at several private practices, at the CRO in Aviano, and at the Ospizio Marino in Grado, of which I have been the Medical Director since 1 September 2025.

At Linfamed, I specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of adult musculoskeletal disorders, as well as prescribing rehabilitation programs in the fields of neurological, orthopedic, rheumatic, and oncological care. I have been working with specific areas of expertise since 1988: the rehabilitation of patients following breast surgery and edematous disorders (lymphedema and lipedema in particular). These areas engage me not only clinically but also through research and conference activities.

Skills

Expert in the rehabilitation of neurological patients (particularly spinal cord injuries and severe brain injuries), lymphocytic patients (diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema, lipedema, and edema of unknown origin), and oncology patients (particularly breast cancer treatment outcomes). Expert in joint and periarticular infiltrative treatments (with cortisone, oxygen-ozone, hyaluronic acid, prolotherapy).

Titles

Graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Trieste, with a grade of 110/110, in 1986.
Qualified to practice law at the University of Bologna, with a grade of 110/110 and honors, in 1986.
Registration in the Register of Surgeons of the Province of Udine on 23/1/87, no. 3301.
Obtained the specialization in Physiotherapy (current European name Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine ) on 04/12/1991, at the University of Trieste, with a grade of 50/50 and honors.
Postgraduate course in Medical Angiology, at the University of Padua (2001).
License for the practice of Manual Lymphatic Drainage and Edema Therapy, issued by the Lymphological Center [S. Giuliano Terme (PI) - Sankt Blasien (RFT)], member of the International Organization of Manual Lymphatic Drainage Schools (2001).
2nd level Master's Degree in Lymphology Clinic, Lymphatic Surgery and Microsurgery, at the University of Genoa (2007)
Specialization in Neurology at the University of Udine (2008).
PhD in Experimental and Clinical Medical Sciences at the University of Udine, with a dissertation on “Elastosonography with ARFI (Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse) technique for the study of epifascial tissue modifications in upper limb lymphedema” (2014).

Services

From 11/16/87 to 2/20/88 doctor of the medical emergency service, at the Local Health Unit No. 5 of Cividalese.
From 04/2/1988 to 18/7/1992 Assistant Doctor at the 2nd Medicine Department of the “Città di Udine” Nursing Home.
From 20/7/1992 to 27/12/1999 Physiatrist at the Northern Physiatry Division of the Gervasutta Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Udine, in a permanent position and full time, with the qualification first of Assistant and then of 1st level Medical Director.
From 1/10/99 to 30/6/2002, physiatrist consultant at the "G. Barellai" Heliotherapy Institute managed by the Ospizio Marino in Grado.
Since 28/12/1999 Physiatrist with the role of 1st level Medical Director at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit - General Rehabilitation of the Gervasutta Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Udine.
From February 2004 to August 2015, he worked at the Mastectomies Clinic of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in Udine, at the SMM Hospital in Udine.
From 01/12/2006 to 16/8/2015 in service as a Physiatrist with the role of 1st level Manager at the AOUS Maria della Misericordia of Udine at the SOC of Physical Medicine and Early Intensive Rehabilitation
Since 18/8/2015 Medical Director and Physiatrist at Linfamed Srl, located in Udine, in Via Pietro di Brazzà n.7
From 01/01/2016 for 4 years Physiatrist consultant at the Busetto & Pontel Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Practice in Pordenone
From 01/01/2017 to 03/08/2024 Physiatrist consultant at Ospizio Marino in Grado
From 21/12/2018 and for two years Physiatrist consultant at the Breast Unit of the Oncology Reference Center of Aviano
From 1 September 2025 Medical Director at the G. Barellai Institute – Ospizio Marino in Grado (GO).

Other

From 1994 to 1996 he taught at the Regional School for Rehabilitation Therapists in Udine.
From 1993 to 1999 Contract Professor for the Bachelor's Degree in Physiotherapy.
In 2003, he was a contract professor at the University of Benghazi (Libya)
Since 2023, Contract Professor at the Master's Degree in Lymphology at Sapienza University of Rome.
For the last three years, he has taught in Master's programs at the University of Udine and Padua and in the postgraduate specialization course at the Federico II University of Naples.

Supervisor or co-supervisor of more than 15 university theses for the degree courses in Physiotherapy and Motor Sciences.

Speaker at more than 100 national and international conferences (especially in Brussels, Cologne, Bonn, Vienna, Athens, Istanbul, Antalya, Wolfsberg, Washington, San Francisco, Buenos Aires)

Author of the Onorato-Ausbergher Method for the treatment of Axillary Web Syndrome.

Author of more than 30 publications in national and international scientific journals. His latest publications are:

Brix B, Sery O, Onorato A, Ure C, Roessler A, Goswami N: Biology of Lymphedema. Biology 2021, 10(4), 261.
SL Filelfi SL, Onorato A, B Brix B, Goswami N: Lymphatic Senescence: Current Updates and Perspectives. Biology 2021, 10(4), 293
Cannataro R, Michelini S, Ricolfi L, Caroleo MC, Gallelli L, De Sarro GB, Onorato A, Cione E: Management of Lipedema with Ketogenic Diet: 22-Month Follow-Up. Life 2021, 11(12), 1402.
Onorato A, Busetto A, Povolato M, Cracco E, Donner D, Goswami N: The lymphoscintigraphic study of the deep lymphatic circulation in the differential diagnosis of oedema of the lower limbs. European Journal of Lymphology and Related Problems., 2023, 34, 83
Onorato A, Filelfi SL, Goswami N: Lymphatic senescence and possible clinical implications. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Vascular Research
Onorato A, Ausbergher S, Dorigo E: “An original technique for the treatment of Axillary Web Syndrome: the Onorato-Ausbergher method”. Veins and Lymphatics. Vol.13 (2024)

Furthermore:

Vice President and then President of the Udine Committee of the National Association of Women Who Have Undergone Breast Surgery
Founding member of the Associazione Lotta al Linfedema Onlus (Association for the Fight against Lymphedema), which this year became the Associazione Linfedema e Lipedema APS (Association for Lymphedema and Lipedema APS), currently serving as vice president.
Current president of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Section of the Italian Society of Telemedicine, and of the Tri-Veneto Section of the Italian Society of Clinical and Experimental Phlebology