Dr. Hoogenboom is a former Professor and Associate Chair in the Physical Therapy Program at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. She retired from this role in 2025. Barb holds a Bachelor Degree from Calvin College (1983), a Master’s Degree from Grand Valley State University (1997), and an EdD from Eastern Michigan University (2006). She has been in practice since 1985 and continues to see patients through the GVSU pro-bono community clinics and also treats community athletes in a consultant role.
Dr. Hoogenboom was certified three times as a Sports Certified Specialist by the ABPTS and achieved Emeritus status in 2023. She is also a retired Athletic Trainer. She has contributed to the literature by numerous original research/case reports/commentaries, home study courses, textbook chapters, and as co-editor of a textbook. She has performed research and presented widely on topics related to the female/male athlete triad/RED-S, sports nutrition, the female athlete across the age span, core strengthening, aquatic therapy, functional performance and testing, surface electromyography, and 2-D and 3-D motion analysis. She currently has been the Editor-In-Chief of The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy since 2019. She been a member of the SPTS/AASPT since 1985, the AOSSM since 1990, and the ICCUS Society since 2006.
Dr Maria Constantinou is an Australian sports physiotherapist, academic and international educator with more than 25 years of clinical, teaching and research experience. She is Professor of Physiotherapy and Course Coordinator at Southern Cross University.
She is an Australian Physiotherapy Association Titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist, a Fellow of Sports Medicine Australia and a Registered International Sports Physical Therapist. Dr Constantinou previously served on the Executive Board of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (2011–2019) and on the Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy Australia committee (2008–2023). She has worked as a physiotherapist at major international sporting events, including the Olympic Games (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Vancouver 2010), Commonwealth Games (Melbourne 2006, Gold Coast 2018) — where she coordinated the GOLDOC Polyclinic and Team Physiotherapy Programs — and the Pacific Games (Port Moresby 2015, Vanuatu 2017). Her academic contributions include leading the development and delivery of postgraduate Master programs in Sports Physiotherapy at Griffith University (2007) and Australian Catholic University (2022), and she is currently leading the development of a new Bachelor of Physiotherapy course. She has taught and presented in more than 27 countries and supports the international development of sports physiotherapists through education, training and mentoring. Dr Constantinou is the author of the book Therapeutic Taping for Musculoskeletal Conditions. Her research interests include physical activity, sports injury prevention and surveillance, therapeutic taping, and gait and function in hip osteoarthritis.
Dr Thornton represented Canada for over a decade in the sport of rowing. She was a world champion in 2006 and took part in the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.
Dr Thornton took up her role as the IOC’s Health, Medicine, and Science Department Director in September 2024 after a career in sports medicine practice and research, as Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, with cross appointments in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the School of Kinesiology. Dr Thornton holds both a PhD from Western and an MD from the University of Toronto, and her contributions to the field of sports medicine include over 100 peer-reviewed publications. She held prominent leadership roles including that of President of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine and Editor of the British Journal of Sport and Exercise Medicine. As well as participating as an athlete in the Games in 2008 she had medical/research roles at Athens 2004, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016. She has also worked with IFs including the IIHF and World Rowing to deliver medical coverage at World Championship events.
Kristian Thorborg has been a physiotherapist since 1998 and a specialist in Sports Physical Therapy since 2004. He is a Professor in Orthopedic Surgery with special focus on orthopedic and sports physical therapy at Copenhagen University, Denmark, and the Clinical Science Coordinator for Graduate PhD Programme at Copenhagen University – Basic and Clinical Research in Musculoskeletal Sciences (MUSKOS) which currently includes more than 80 PhD students.
Kristian Thorborg has published more than >350 original research articles, review papers, clinical commentaries, editorials, letters, popular science papers and book chapters in his area of expertise; prevention, assessment and treatment of sports and orthopedic injuries. From 310 peer-reviewed PubMed publications (>40 as first and >100 as last author) he has conducted/participated in >25 randomised controlled trials (Level 1b evidence) and >20 systematic reviews (Level 1a evidence). Kristian has also published 31 textbook chapters and two books. He has an h-index of 70 and has published in Nature Disease Primer and JAMA Surgery.
Kristian Thorborg is former President of the IFSPT and was the initiator and last author of the ACTIVATE consensus on assessment, prescription and promotion of physical activity, published in BJSM in 2026.
Physiotherapist by profession for 26 years, Blaise founded the liberated company The Running Clinic in 2008. A leader in innovative ideas in sports medicine, author, internationally recognized speaker, co-owner and co-manager of PCN physiotherapy and sports medicine clinics, organizer of major sporting events, passionate runner, father of four children and grandfather of a granddaughter, he is driven by a critical scientific mindset and deeply believes in sharing reliable and accessible knowledge that contributes to population health.
The Running Clinic is a continuing education organization for health professionals with a presence on five continents. It has become an international reference in scientific popularization and in the development of innovative clinical tools that have influenced and transformed the practice of tens of thousands of professionals worldwide. Blaise is at the origin, among others, of mechanical stress quantification, the minimalist index, and the acronym PEACE & LOVE. He has also recently developed, with his team, the concept of liberated management and governance in the entrepreneurial world.
Liran Lifshitz is a physiotherapist and lecturer with over 29 years of clinical experience. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Physiotherapy from Tel Aviv University and an MBA in Health Care Innovation from Reichman University. He is the founder and owner of Physio & More Clinic in Tel Aviv, where he works as a full-time clinician specializing in sports injuries, with a particular clinical focus on lower limb and hip and groin conditions.
Beyond his clinical work, Liran passionately lectures and teaches courses nationally and internationally on topics ranging from hip and groin to lower-limb sports injuries.
Over the past five years, Liran has been an invited speaker at the annual congress of the International Society for Hip Arthroscopy (ISHA). He is a member of the ISHA Education Committee and has contributed as a co-author to three international consensus statements focused on hip-related conditions.
Previously, Liran served for 12 years as the physiotherapist of the Israeli National Football Team and as Head of the Medical Department of the Israel Football Association. He currently serves as Chair of the Israeli Sports Physiotherapy Interest Group (IPTS).
Bruno Tassignon has been an assistant professor at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences at Hasselt University since 2024. He obtained his joint PhD (Vrije Universiteit Brussel – Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: Doctor in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy) in 2021 on return-to-sport and the role of the brain in people with ankle injuries.
His research focuses on epidemiology and sports physiotherapy, the brain’s role in sports injuries, the prevention and rehabilitation of sports injuries, motor learning, return-to-sport decision-making, and technological innovations, all through an interdisciplinary approach. Through these efforts, he aims to contribute to the development of innovative, evidence-based protocols that help people avoid injuries and successfully return to their sport.
Dr. Gül Baltacı is a physiotherapist and academic specializing in sports medicine and exercise physiology. She completed her undergraduate studies at Hacettepe University, her MSc at Middle East Technical University, and her PhD at Gazi University. She served as a faculty member at Hacettepe University and later worked as a fellow and researcher at Baylor Sports Medicine Institute in Houston, USA.
Dr. Baltacı is the former President of the Turkish Sports Physiotherapy Association and has been an instructor and research committee member for Kinesio Taping International since 2008. She has authored over 200 peer-reviewed research papers, contributed to more than 300 international congress presentations, and published 13 books on sports rehabilitation and exercise physiology. She currently teaches at Istanbul Atlas University and runs a private clinic.
Caroline Bolling, sports physiotherapist, has worked with elite athletes from various Olympic sports and was the head therapist for Cirque du Soleil. She obtained her PhD at Amsterdam UMC, with qualitative studies on the experiences of elite athletes and artists in sports injury prevention. She is affiliated to Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports, a research centre of the IOC/Amsterdam UMC, and consulting researcher of other universities, working on numerous practice-oriented research projects focusing on injury prevention, return to sport, complexity and qualitative research.
Andrea Mosler is a Specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and Associate Professor at La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre. Her research focuses on injury prevention in football, hip/groin pain, and women in sport projects. She is currently leading injury surveillance in the A-Leagues and is the Victorian Lead for the PACE-RURAL multi-centre project. She still works clinically with her career highlighted by working with elite athletes at the Australian Institute of Sport, Aspetar Sports Medicine Hospital, and being an Australian team physiotherapist at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics Games and 1998 Commonwealth Games.
Chris Napier is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University and Director of the SFU Run Lab. His research focuses on understanding the biomechanical and training load factors that influence running performance and injury risk, integrating laboratory-based methods with real-world, field-based measurement approaches. A central emphasis of his work is improving understanding of women’s running biomechanics, alongside investigating the role of footwear and sports apparel in performance and injury prevention.
Chris is a clinician–scientist and actively practises as a sport physiotherapist at Restore Physiotherapy in Vancouver, where he specializes in the management of running-related injuries. His clinical experience spans recreational runners through to elite and professional athletes. He currently serves as a physiotherapist for Athletics Canada and has been part of the Canadian medical team at numerous major international events, including World Championships, Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, and both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Chris completed his Master of Physiotherapy in 2003 and Diploma of Sport Physiotherapy in 2007, before earning his PhD in Running Biomechanics and Injury Prevention from the University of British Columbia in 2018. He is the author of the bestselling book Science of Running.
Nonhlanhla (Noe) Mkumbuzi is sports clinician, researcher, and technical consultant for various continental and international sporting federations. Her academic work is in marginalised athletes with multiple minority identities; namely, African women and girls in sport. Her research focuses on the intersection of biology, ethnicity, gender, culture, and economics in their athletic participation, injury rehabilitation, and the inclusion of these intersections in sports medicine policy. In her present role at Durham University, her work is on promoting female athlete health and strengthening football health surveillance systems in low-resource settings, primarily in women’s and youth football.
Dr. Behnam Liaghat is a specialist in sports physiotherapy and an Associate Professor at the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark. His research focuses on sports medicine and developing treatment strategies for patients with hypermobile joints.
Dr. Mina Samukawa, PhD, PT, is a professor and the head of the Division of Physical Therapy at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan. She completed her PhD at Sapporo Medical University in 2007. Her research interests include injury prevention, therapeutic exercise effects, and health promotion. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles. She has served as an executive board member of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT) since 2023 and is currently the Vice President. She is also the Vice President of the Japanese Society of Sports Physical Therapy. Prof. Samukawa is a member of the Medical Support Group of the Japanese Olympic Committee and contributes to athlete care. She has been a physiotherapist for the Ski Association of Japan since 2003 and currently serves as the head physiotherapist. She has worked as a sports physiotherapist for Team Japan at both Summer and Winter Olympic Games (2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2024) and was a core physiotherapist for physiotherapy services at the Polyclinic of the 2017 Jakarta Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Mario Bizzini, PhD, MSc, PT is as a research associate at the Human Performance Lab, Schulthess Clinic in Zürich (Switzerland), where he works since 35 years. He earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh (School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, 2001), and completed his PhD at the Oslo Sports Trauma and Research Center at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences (2010). Mario was also involved during 14 years (2002-2016) with the FIFA Medical Research and Assessment Center (F-MARC). His research interests focus on prevention and rehabilitation of sports injuries. Mario has at today 145 peer-reviewed publications, 6 books, and 20 book chapters on these topics. He is Deputy Editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) and on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy (IJSPT). Mario, a former board member of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT), is currently the Vice-President of the Swiss Sport Physiotherapy Association (SSPA). He’s a rehabilitation consultant for professional ice hockey and football/soccer teams, and has worked at three Olympic Games (2008, 2012, 2016), three FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014), and two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2007, 2015).
Dr. Clare Ardern is a physiotherapist and senior researcher, currently working at The University of British Columbia, Canada. With expertise in sports medicine, rehabilitation and meta-research, her work focuses on (i) measuring the impact of health research on public policy, the economy and society, (ii) how high-calibre meta-research (including systematic reviews, network meta-analyses, and clinical practice guidelines) can help clinicians make quality decisions, and (iii) return to sport after injury (rates, determinants of success, improving the clinical approach). Dr. Ardern is Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) and the gold open access journal, JOSPT Open. She hosts the weekly JOSPT Insights podcast, which aims to help clinicians translate quality evidence to quality practice and is downloaded > 35K times each month.
Karim Khan is a Sport and Exercise Physician (FACSEP, Australia; Dip CASEM, Canada) and Professor of Sports Medicine at the Department of Family Practice and School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. As a team clinician, he worked with the Australian Olympic Women’s Basketball Team (Opals), the Australian Junior Women’s Hockey Team and various professional basketball teams in Australia (NBL). He served as a sports physician at the Australian Ballet and Australian Ballet School in the 1990s.
As a researcher, Karim completed his PhD (University of Melbourne) on tendon injuries and bone health in 1998. His work with colleagues contributed to better understanding of: tendon pathogenesis, the role if imaging in managing tendon problems and patient-reported measures of evaluating tendons. His work in bone health included studies of the treatment of stress fractures in younger people and the prevention of osteoporosis and falls with exercise in older people.
Karim served as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) from 2008-2020 and he was also the inaugural Editor of the open access BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine 2017-2019. He was a social media pioneer who launched the BJSM blog and content on YouTube (>8 million views), Twitter (>77 K followers), Facebook (>100K followers), Instagram, and podcasts (>5 million listens to over 400 episodes).
Dr. Jackie Whittaker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia. As a physiotherapist, her research takes a lifespan approach to injury and illness prevention. A central focus is the long-term welfare of athletes and knee health after sport/recreational-related injury. This includes research to improve knee injury care, understand knee injury consequences, and develop approaches to optimize function and healthy behaviours after injury. Two cross-cutting themes of her research are exposing and overcoming gendered environments that disadvantage female/woman/girl and gender-diverse athletes, and partnering with end-users to ensure solutions that are acceptable and relevant. Jackie’s research is guided by 21 years of clinical practice.
Associate Professor in Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation Medicine Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden
Dr Kristina Fagher is an Associate Professor in Physiotherapy in the Rehabilitation Medicine Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. Her research focus on Para athletes´ health, injury and illness prevention and well-being in sports, and she is the founder of the adapted health promotion platform www.safeparasport.com
Clinically she is a Physiotherapist specialised in Sports Medicine and Physical Activity with more than ten years of experience of working with elite Para athletes (e.g. at the Paralympic Games 2016, 2022 and 2024). She is a member of The Concussion in Para sport group (CIPS) and she is a Physiotherapist working with Parasport Sweden.
Dr. Alli Gokeler obtained his degree in Physical Therapy in 1990 from the Rijkshogeschool Groningen. From 1991-2001 he worked as a physical therapist in the United States and Germany. Upon return to the Netherlands, he obtained a degree in Sports Physical Therapy from the Utrecht University of Applied Science in 2003. In 2005 he started on his PhD project at the University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Rehabilitation. He has a special interest in motor control after ACL injuries. He is currently working on a post-doc track at the University of Paderbornwith a special focus on development of prevention programs designed to reduce incidence of ACL (second) injury rate and associated occurrence of osteoarthritis. The main focus of the current research is to determine which interventions could induce neuroplastic changes of the brain that would proof beneficial in terms on injury prevention and return to sports after an injury.
HÃ¥vard Moksnes is a sports physiotherapy specialist and head of department at Idrettens Helsesenter, where he leads projects that build medical structures to strengthen opportunities for girls’ and women’s development in football. He holds a physiotherapy degree from Oslo and a Master’s in sports sciences from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, and earned his PhD in 2013 on ACL injury treatment in children.
As a researcher clinician, he has extensive experience in rehabilitation of knee injuries for athletes at all levels, focusing on safe return to sport and evidence-based practice. HÃ¥vard has 10+ years working for Olympiatoppen, supporting Norwegian elite athletes returning from injury to international medals.
Enda King PhD MSc combines his roles as a sports physiotherapist, strength and conditioning coach, researcher, and educator through his work with individual athletes and elite teams across a spectrum of sports and disciplines. Currently, he is Head Elite Performance and Development in Aspetar, Doha, Qatar and traveling internationally to work with athletes and professional clubs. In addition he is Visiting Professor of Rehabilitation in the University of Leeds, UK. He currently lives between Qatar and Ireland with his wife Michelle and their 3 children Eleanor, Ethan and Iarlaith.
Dr. Tanushree Pillay is an internationally recognised Sports Physiotherapist with more than 20 years of experience working with elite athletes across rugby, netball, athletics, multi-coded international events, and high-performance sport academies.
She completed her PhD in Physiotherapy at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2014, where she was funded as a prestigious VLIR Scholarship Holder, specialising in injury prevention, rehabilitation science, and performance medicine.
Dr. Pillay’s clinical and leadership career spans national teams, major world events, and high-performance institutions.
She has served as a Springbok Physiotherapist within SA Rugby, contributing to team medical structures across Rugby Sevens, Women’s Rugby, and senior national setups in preparation for global tournaments including the Olympics, Rugby World Cups, Commonwealth Games, Paralympics, and Sevens World Series. Her role included acute injury care, musculoskeletal screening, rehabilitation programming, and delivering world-class medical support at international competitions.
In 2019, Dr. Pillay expanded her international footprint by joining Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), where she currently serves as Head Academy Physiotherapist. In this role, she leads injury management systems, develops evidence-based rehabilitation pathways, and oversees multidisciplinary collaboration across PSG’s elite youth performance structures. Her leadership focuses on integrating sports science, physiotherapy innovation, and development-focused performance care for emerging professional athletes.
Luca Maestroni (PhD) is a Physiotherapist based in Italy and an academic supervisor at the London Sport Institute, Middlesex University. He completed a PhD focusing on strength and power profiles in professional football players following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
Prof. Nikos Ntoumanis is a Chartered Psychologist, Professor of Motivation Science and co-Director of the Danish Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Science (DRIVEN) at the University of Southern Denmark, since 2021. Prof. Ntoumanis is Greek by origin. He received his PhD in Medical Sciences (1999) from the University of Exeter, UK. He has worked for many years in the UK (1998-2014) and Australia (2014-2021) and he is also a citizen of both countries. He has received Fellowships from the UK Academy of Social Sciences, the American Psychological Association, the British Psychological Society, the Society for Behavioral Medicine (US), and the Distinguished Scholar Awards from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (US) and the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA).
Professor Ntoumanis’ research, both applied and basic, focuses on personal and contextual factors that promote motivation for sustained behaviour change and result in psychological well-being. Areas of particular interest are physical activity promotion in different community settings, self-regulation of life goals, promoting health behaviours that support the climate change agenda, motivation in the classroom and in workplaces, and psychology of sport, with emphasis on applications of contemporary theories of motivation. His research has been published in various journals from the fields of psychology, behavioral medicine, and public health (e.g., Nature Human Behaviour, Annual Review of Psychology, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, British Journal of Sports Medicine, Health Psychology). He has also been a lead or co-investigator of grants awarded by major funders in the UK (ESRC, MRC, Nuffield), Australia (Australian Research Council, Heart Foundation, Healthway, Cancer Council Western Australia), the European Union (Horizon, FP7, and Erasmus plus), Denmark (Novo Nordisk, Nordea, and Tryg Foundations), the International Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency, and the industry.
I am a sports medicine clinician scientist from Canada. I am a professor and Assistant Dean at McMaster University. I have a passion for improving the health, safety, and well-being of athletes at all levels. My international focus at the elite level of sport extends from scientific research to knowledge translation, policy development, advocacy, and prevention. I have a particular interest in the health of women athletes, REDs, Safe Sport, and athlete mental health. I am privileged to partner with many international sport institutions
including FIFA (Science), World Rugby (Anti-doping), International Golf(Medicine), World Anti Doping Agency (Deputy Foundation Board Member), International Testing Agency(Health & Clinical Expert Group), ASOIF (Medical & Scientifi c Consult Group), and the International OlympicCommittee (Games Group, Mental Health Working Group).
Maurice Douryang is a Cameroonian Physiotherapist with PhD in Injury Prevention and Sport Rehabilitation holder at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy. Currently, he is the head of Physiotherapy and Physical Medicine Department at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang in Cameroon, and also appointed as CAF Research Officer – UNIFFAC Zone Coordinator (CAF Research Hub). Douryang does research in injury prevent (ACL) and health protection (Sudden cardiac arrest and death prevention in African football). For the 2026 WCSPT, his topic will be focused on preparedness for emergency in sport.
Dr. Jeff G. Konin is a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Athletic Training and Physical Therapy at Florida International University. He has extensive experience in sports medicine and event coverage, including serving on the clinical staff for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and as Head of Medical for the USA Wheelchair Paralympic Team that won a world championship gold medal in 2010. He is a senior clinical instructor for Sports Medicine Emergency Management (SMEM), where he provides emergency care training to professional sports clubs and organizations, and has also volunteered at major endurance events such as the Disney World Marathon.
Dr. Konin is co-editor of 29 textbooks, including Sports Emergency Care: A Team Approach, and has authored numerous textbook chapters. He is a highly sought-after international presenter, having delivered lectures and workshops across the United States, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and South America. Recognised as a leading authority on cannabis and performance, he has presented more than 300 times on this topic worldwide. He consults with collegiate and professional teams, founded the International Cannabis in Sport Academy, and served as the inaugural chair of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Cannabinoid Task Force. Dr. Konin is widely respected for translating complex issues related to cannabis, athletic performance, safety, and workplace or driving considerations into practical, evidence-informed guidance.
Silvia Ortega Cebrián (PhD, MSc, PT) is a highly qualified professional with a dual focus as a Lecturer and Researcher and an Advanced Sports Physiotherapist. She holds a PhD in Health Sciences from the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC) , alongside an MSc in Sports Physiotherapy from the University of Bath, UK , and an MSc in Physiotherapy from Coventry University, UK. In the clinical field, she worked at FC Barcelona as a coordinator and was responsible for R&D (I+D) implementation in the rehabilitation department. She also served as a Sports Physiotherapist at Aspetar, Sports Medicine Hospital in Qatar. Dr. Ortega Cebrián holds significant expertise in the assessment and conservative management of shoulder injuries, particularly in throwing athletes. This specialization is underpinned by extensive training, including the Aspetar Shoulder Specialisation and courses on Shoulder Biomechanics and Rehabilitation, The Throwing Athlete Pathomechanics, and Rehabilitation Principles for Shoulder Injuries in Athletes. Her research activity focuses on physiotherapy and kinesiology. Her topics include the evaluation of tendon structural changes, shoulder muscle activation timing, and the management of injuries in athletes.
Pablo is an Argentinian sports physiotherapist who works as a clinician, researcher, and professor with a focus on shoulder disorders. He is also an active member of the Argentinian Sports Physical Therapy Association (AKD), promoting good sports physiotherapy in his country.
I obtained his Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy at University of Antwerp, where I subsequently obtained my PhD in collaboration with Bern University of Applied Sciences (coming home for WCSPT in a way 😉) and Ulster University. I am currently affiliated as a post-doc medical researcher with the University of Antwerp. Additionally, I co-founded the sports-medical research and rehabilitation centre ARRISE (Academic Research & orthopaedic Rehabilitation centre for Innovation and Sports medicine Excelence), where he supervises and conducts sports medical research as research director about lower limb injury rehabilitation and prevention in sports (collaboration with Royal Antwerp Football Club, FIFA,…). Jente also consults on ankle injuries in sports across the world.
Dr Florian Forelli is a sports physiotherapist and assistant professor at Haute École Arc in Delémont, Switzerland, and an associate researcher at Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne and Clinique de Domont in France. He is Head of the Research Committee of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy. His work focuses on optimising rehabilitation and return-to-sport after ACL reconstruction and on women athletes’ mental health in injury prevention and return-to-sport decision-making.
Jenna is graduate of the Masters of Physical Therapy/PhD program at Western University, where her research focused on inflammation in knee osteoarthritis (OA). During her studies, she also competed on the Varsity Cross-Country and Track and Field teams at Western, where her interest in female athletes and endurance athletes began. After graduating, she shifted her research and clinical focus to optimizing female athlete health throughout the lifespan, including Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, pelvic floor health and postpartum return to sport. Today, she is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, where her research combines her expertise in osteoarthritis and female athlete health – focusing on posttraumatic OA with a sex/gender lens.
Clinically, Jenna pursued a combined sport physiotherapy/postdoctoral fellowship at Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic as the primary physiotherapist for the endurance varsity teams at Western – cross country, track & field, rowing, swimming and cheerleading. She currently works at Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Clinic in Vancouver, BC.
Gráinne Donnelly is an Advanced Practice Pelvic Health Physiotherapist based in Northern Ireland and a Doctoral Researcher at Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. She is a trustee for the Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy charitable body and the current Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy. Gráinne is the Editor of a new scientific text book focusing on sports medicine and the pelvic floor and she is passionate about researching, educating health and fitness professionals and translating new knowledge on female pelvic floor function and exercise into clinical practice.
Sanna, Physiotherapist, Master of Health Sciences, works at Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences (Jyväskylä, Finland), where she is responsible for developing rehabilitation and social services education. In addition to her teaching and development work, she also works as a physiotherapist for girls’ and women’s national football team as a physio.
Phil Glasgow has extensive experience in high performance sport as a practitioner, researcher, coach and mentor to the ‘team behind the team’. Phil has held several leadership positions across sporting organisations and understands first-hand the importance of connecting every member of the wider team to effectively support performance. He is currently Head of Performance Support at the Irish Rugby Football Union having previously held the position of Head of Sports Medicine at the Sports Institute Northern Ireland for 14 years. He was Chief Physiotherapy Officer for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games where he led the physiotherapy team of the most successful British Olympic Team in history. Phil is recognised as a leader in the field of sports medicine and performance and is particularly interested in functional rehabilitation and understanding factors that influence performance. Phil’s doctoral studies investigated factors influencing exercise induced muscle damage and its management and he has published extensively on factors related to sports rehabilitation. Phil is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on areas related to performance, rehabilitation and leadership. Phil was a member of the executive committee of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sport and Exercise Medicine (Physios in Sport, UK) for 12 years serving as Chair for Education & Research and as Vice President. Phil is a visiting professor of the School of Sport at Ulster University and teaches on a number of postgraduate sports medicine programmes at various UK and European universities. In 2019 Phil was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (Ireland) in recognition of his work.
Rodrigo Scattone Silva is a Physical Therapist specialized in Sports Physical Therapy (SONAFE). He is currently an Associate Professor at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, Brazil), where he lectures undergraduate and graduate level courses. He also supervises Master’s Degree and PhD students at UFRN where he is the leader of the Brazilian Tendinopathy and Sports Injuries Research Group. Dr. Scattone Silva earned his PhD in Physical Therapy from Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar, Brazil) having conducted part of his PhD studies at the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra, Australia) under the supervision of Prof. Craig Purdam. He was also a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Physical Therapy of the University of Delaware (Newark, USA) under the supervision of Prof. Karin Silbernagel. The main focus of his research are prevention and rehabilitation of Patellar and Achilles Tendon disorders. He is also one of the Associate Editors of the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT).
Martin Hägglund is professor of physiotherapy at the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden. His main research areas are in sports injury epidemiology, injury prevention and implementation, and return to sports. Martin is chair of the Sport Without Injury Programme (SWIPE) at Linköping University, a research programme focusing on injury and illness prevention in athletes. He is also a senior researcher in the Football Research Group (FRG), and UEFA injury study expert panel member, that supports injury surveillance projects in professional football in collaboration with UEFA, and senior researcher in the Handball Research Group (HRG) that focuses on the treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of injury and illness in team handball. He is a medical research advisor to Swedish Olympics and the Swedish Football Association.
Ebonie is a Sports Physiotherapist at the Victorian Institute of Sport, The Australian Ballet, and she consults to multiple AFL, Rugby, elite Soccer and Basketball clubs. She is the Principle Research Fellow at The Australian Ballet, a joint position with La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre. Ebonie co-leads activities in the High Performance 2032+ Strategy in Research and Innovation. She is the Deputy Manager of the Physiotherapy Department at VIS and co-chairs the research council. Additionally, Ebonie sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Little Big Steps, a children’s charity that aims to increase physical activity in children undergoing cancer treatment to improve quality of life. Ebonie is one of the Board of Directors for Sports Medicine Australia.
Her clinical career has included the Australian Institute of Sport, The Australian Open, Australian Ballet School, Melbourne Heart football club, Commonwealth Games 2006, 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics, 2012 London Paralympics, 18 months travelling with Disney’s The Lion King stage show and she was awarded the Post-Graduate Scholarship at the AIS (2007). She has completed her Phd in tendon pain, Masters Sports Phys, Ba. Phys (hons) and Ba. App Sci. Her clinically focussed research has been awarded Victorian Fresh Scientist of the year 2015, ASICS SMA Best New Investigator 2004, 2013 & 2014 in Clinical Sports Medicine, best clinical science Pain Adelaide 2013, BJSM young investigator Best Clinical Paper 2014 and the Professor Mollie Holman medal for the best thesis of the faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University 2015 and the ECR best paper 2015.
Dr. Roula Kotsifaki is Head of the Assessment Lab at Aspetar in Doha, Qatar, where she leads the use of objective testing to optimise rehabilitation and return-to-sport decisions in elite athletes. Her work includes monitoring rehabilitation progress, developing return-to-sport strategies, and conducting athlete screening and profiling for performance and health. She holds an MSc in Motion Analysis from the University of Dundee and a PhD in Computer Modeling from KU Leuven. Her research focuses on return-to-sport biomechanics and the advancement of evidence-based rehabilitation in sports medicine.
Nicola is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and Director of Innovation and International at Cardiff University’s School of Healthcare Studies. She completed her MSc in Sports Injury and Therapy at Manchester Metropolitan University and her PhD on Functional Coping in ACL Deficiency at Cardiff University.
Nicki has travelled as Physiotherapist to 7 Commonwealth Games, 3 Olympic Games and 2 Pre-Olympic Preparation Camps with Team Wales and Team GB respectively, and volunteeredat the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
As part of her University post she has a consultancy role with Sport Wales and also continues to hold some private practice clinic sessions. Her main clinical and research interests are in neuromuscular control and functional rehabilitation of knee, ankle and shoulder injuries in sport. Nicki is currently President of the International Federation of Sports Physiotherapy.
Dr Osman Ahmed is the Player Health Lead for Para Football at the Football Association (England) and a Physiotherapist at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (England). He trained as a Physiotherapist at the University of Nottingham (England), before undertaking his Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Physiotherapy and subsequently his PhD at the University of Otago (New Zealand) on the topic of concussion in sport. He is an Associate Editor at British Journal of Sports Medicine and BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, Visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth (England), and Co-Chair of the Concussion in Para Sport Group.
His career spans significant roles including post-doctoral research training at Boston Children’s Hospital and The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, followed by an instructor position at Harvard Medical School from 2015 to 2020. In 2020, he was appointed as an associate professor at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. In 2025, he came back to the United States and currently serves as a senior staff scientist at division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention.
He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles. Among them, he has won a systematic review award from Am J Sports Med 2013, Br J Sports Med 2015, and several scientific awards from the Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine (PRiSM) society (2018, 2019, 2022).
Ron Courson is the Executive Associate Athletic Director for Health and Performance at the University of Georgia Athletic Association, where he previously served for 30 years as Director of Sports Medicine. A certified athletic trainer for over 40 years, he is also a board-certified sports physical therapist, advanced emergency medical technician, and certified strength and conditioning specialist. Ron has served in key leadership roles across collegiate and professional sports medicine, including work with the U.S. Olympic Team and as chief athletic trainer for track and field at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He is a member of the NFL Health and Safety Committee, a past leader within the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, and a recipient of multiple Hall of Fame honors. Ron is actively involved in sports medicine education, research, and national athlete safety initiatives.
Dr. Christina Le is a physiotherapist and researcher with a special interest in knee injuries. Her clinical experience combined with her personal experience of recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury inspired her to pursue a PhD. In 2022, she completed her PhD which examined health-related quality of life of youth athletes following a knee injury. Christina is now a post-doctoral researcher at Leeds Beckett University. She is working on Project ACL, a collaborative research project with the Global Players’ Union (FIFPRO), the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), and Nike that aims to reduce ACL injuries and increase player availability in professional women’s football.
With a career spanning over 15 years in academia, healthcare, and elite sports (EPL and NBA), Dr. Chris Richter is passionate about bridging the gap between complex data capture and actionable clinical insights. A prolific researcher with over 70 peer-reviewed papers, Chris creates advanced analytical frameworks that solve the “riddles” of human movement. By leveraging machine learning and custom software to automate data processing, they have successfully reduced processing times by 90% in industrial settings—allowing clinicians and scientists to focus less on spreadsheets and more on the athlete. Whether working on the sidelines or in the lab, Chris is driven by a sleepless curiosity to find simple, efficient solutions that outperform the state of the art.
Dr. Meredith Chaput is an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Central Florida and co-directs the Cognition, Neuroplasticity, & Sarcopenia Research Laboratory. She completed her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at Creighton University, a post-professional residency in Sports Physical Therapy at Vanderbilt Orthopaedics Nashville, and a PhD in Translational Biomedical Sciences at Ohio University. Dr. Chaput’s research focuses to understand central nervous system plasticity after knee injury with an emphasis on the role of visual-cognition as a primary compensator of both brain and physical function.
I am a sports physiotherapist with a PhD in sprint biomechanics and hamstring injuries. I work at Hôpital de La Tour in Geneva, where I divide my time between clinical practice, research projects, and supporting elite athletes with Swiss Athletics.
Brice is an Associate Professor at the University of Savoie Mont-Blanc in the Department of Sports Science and a researcher at the LIBM laboratory. He worked for 15 years as a sports physiotherapist, notably with the French national handball teams. He is also a member of the scientific committee of the French Society of Sports Physiotherapists. His research focuses on prevention, treatment, and management of return to sport after lower limb injuries especially in ankle sprains and chronic instability.
Working as a senior researcher at the Institute of Sports Medicine, my research focus is on the acute and long-term functional and structural changes after a muscle strain injury within skeletal muscle and the aponeurosis. I particularly concentrate on understanding the cellular mechanisms behind the fatty degeneration of muscle and the loss of muscle mass to eventually minimize pathologic consequences to muscle strain injuries. The goal of my research is to further optimize rehabilitation after one of the most common types of sports injuries.
I work to improve the health of people with chronic conditions by developing and testing evidence-based exercise and physical activity interventions. Collaboration with patients, clinicians, and stakeholders is central to my approach. My research has been published in leading journals such as Nature Medicine, JAMA Psychiatry, and BJSM. I co-led the development of the MOBILIZE intervention tested in a multicentre randomised controlled trials. Earlier, my PhD research helped debunk the myth that exercise harms knee joints in osteoarthritis, influencing clinical practice worldwide and featured in major media outlets like The Washington Post and DER SPIEGEL.
Following her studies in Physiotherapy (1996-2000, PT School Leukerbad, Switzerland), Angela Blasimann completed two master’s degree programs (2005-2008 MPTSc, University of Maastricht (NL); 2012-2015 MSc in Physiotherapy, Bern University of Applied Sciences, (Switzerland)) and finished her doctoral studies in 2023 (PhD, Doctor of Medical Sciences respectively, University of Antwerp (B)). The topic of her doctoral studies was “Evaluation of neuromuscular control after anterior cruciate ligament rupture – Development of objective criteria to assess sensorimotor competence”.
Angela Blasimann is currently working as Head of the BSc Physiotherapy program, lecturer, Deputy Head of the research group “Neuromuscular Control” and researcher at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland) at the Department of Health professions, Division of Physiotherapy. Furthermore, she is part-time working as senior lecturer and assessor in the field of further education (Pilates, Anatomy).
Regarding clinical practice, Angela Blasimann is an experienced physiotherapist, well-trained in orthopedics, sports physical therapy and active rehabilitation in different clinical settings.
