Neil’s onset of arthritis at the age of three had a serious impact on his childhood. He has focused most of his career on representing the interests of patients in the UK and Europe. In 2011 he set up Neil Betteridge Associates (UK), offering patient insight and perspective into international initiatives.

He is a long-standing member of the Executive Committee of EULAR (2001-2021), the European rheumatology society, acting as EULAR’s Liaison Officer for Public Affairs; and has previously twice been its Vice President, representing the European patient group network.

He also acts as adviser to the European Alliance for Patient Access (EAfPA), which organises policy discussions on issues around access to treatments; Co-Chairs the UK Chronic Pain Policy Coalition; and is a Patient Adviser to NHS England on Specialised Pain Services. Formerly he was CEO of the UK patient group Arthritis Care; Chair of the UK umbrella body for rheumatic diseases, ARMA; Strategic Adviser to the British Society for Rheumatology; Patient Adviser at the Royal College of Physicians; and has been a UK ministerial adviser on both health and disability issues.

Karsten Dreinhöfer is a professor in orthopaedics and traumatology, and specializes in rehabilitation, social medicine, physical therapy, emergency medicine, osteology (DVO), chiropractic therapy and health economy (ebs).

He is the Medical Director and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at Medical Park Berlin Humboldtmühle. In addition, he is Professor in the Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery at the Charité University Berlin, Germany.

After studying in Hannover and Boston (USA), he trained in the Department of Trauma Surgery at Hannover Medical School, the Department of Orthopaedics in Lund (Sweden) and the Department of Orthopaedics, Ulm University. After completion of his specialisation he worked there as an attending. Starting in 1997, he served on the European Board of Johnson & Johnson Orthopaedics for 2 years. In 2001 he became Deputy Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, Ulm University.

In 2009 he was appointed as head of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at Medical Park Humboldtmühle Berlin. He was also appointed to the Chair of musculoskeletal prevention, rehabilitation and health services research at the Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery in cooperation with the Center for Sports Science and Sports Medicine, Berlin (CSSB) at Charité University of Medicine and the Humboldt University.

He is vice-president of the Executive Board of the Professional Association of Orthopaedic and Traumatology (BVOU), chair of the finance committee as well as formerly co-opted member of the Board of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT) for many years. He is founding member and former secretary of the Global Rehabilitation Alliance (GRA).

He is a founding member, former treasurer and past president of the Fragility Fracture Network (FFN) and the author of A Global Call to Action to improve the care of people with fragility fractures and the EULAR-EFORT recommendations on fragility fractures and prevention of subsequent fractures. He was member of the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and chairman of the “Invest in Your Bone Campaign Germany” of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and Speaker of the National Initiative Against Osteoporosis (NIO). He is a member of the Osteoporosis and Fragility Fracture Committee of the Global Coalition on Aging.

He was president of the German Annual Orthopaedic and Trauma Congress (DKOU) in 2011, president of the European Congress of Orthopaedic and Traumatology in Berlin 2012, the Global Congresses of the Fragility Fracture Network in 2012 and 2013, the German Congress of Health Service Research 2013, and the World Network Meeting of the Bone and Joint Decade 2017.

In addition, he is a member of the Global Alliance for the Care of the Injured (GACI) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), member of the Musculoskeletal Topic Advisory Group (MTAG) of the WHO and is sitting on WHO advisory and consultation committees for Rehabilitation.

Karsten Dreinhöfer has served as Director of Development for the Bone and Joint Decade International from 1999 to 2010, and as secretary of the German network of the Bone and Joint Decade since 2000. In 2010 he became a member of the International Coordinating Committee of the Bone and Joint Decade and later in 2015 of the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health. Since 2016 he is a member of the Executive Committee and became chair in 2017.

Prof. Dreinhöfer’s main scientific interests are in the areas of health service research, clinical epidemiology, health economy and rehabilitation research.

He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles, 400 further publications including 23 book chapters, edited 3 text books, and gave more than 700 national and international presentations. He is Editor and Section Editor of several national and international scientific journals.

Contact: karsten.dreinhoefer@charite.de

Dr. Deborah Kopansky-Giles, DC, FCCS(C), FICC (Hon), MSc. is a Professor at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC), Graduate Education and Research, and is on staff at the St. Michael’s Hospital, Department of Family and Community Medicine, (DFCM).  In collaboration with CMCC, St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto (U of T), Dr. Kopansky-Giles’ current research priorities include the development and evaluation of integrative models of health care delivery and new models of health professional education. An award winning researcher, she has received numerous grants for her health service delivery research and her musculoskeletal interprofessional education-based research and modelling from research agencies, governments and academic institutions.    Dr. Kopansky-Giles graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education in 1978 and received a Doctor of Chiropractic in 1982 from the CMCC.  She attained her Fellowship in Chiropractic Clinical Sciences in 1993 and was named a Honourary member of the Fellow of the International College of Chiropractors in 2002.  Deborah achieved her Masters in Science in 2010 from the University of Bournemouth.  Deborah has numerous peer-reviewed publications and speaks frequently at national and international scientific conferences.  She is on the editorial board of the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association and is a reviewer for the Journal of Interprofessional Care, the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics and Biomed Central.  She has been on the organizing committees for numerous conferences including, as Conference Co-Chair, the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) 10th Biennial Congress in Montreal (2009) and, as a member of the Health Services Committee for the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006 and the BJD World Network Meeting, Vietnam 2012.

Contact: kopanskygild@smh.ca

Professor Lyn March is the Liggins Professor of Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology at the University of Sydney and Institute of Bone and Joint Research and a Senior Staff Specialist in Rheumatology at Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, Australia. For the past 5 years Lyn lead the MSK Expert Group for the Global Burden of Diseases study that highlighted MSK disorders as one the world’s leading causes of disability. She now Chairs the Bone and Joint Decade Surveillance Task Force. Lyn is a Board member for the International Fragility Fracture Network and a member of the Executive of the international rheumatology clinical trial outcomes OMERACT group. For the past 4 she has been co-chair of the NSW Health Agency for Clinical Innovation’s MSK Clinician Network that has developed and implemented chronic disease management models of care for a range of conditions including knee and hip OA, osteoporotic fractures, juvenile arthritis and acute low back pain. Lyn has an active public and private rheumatology practice and a passion for teaching and research.

Contact: lyn.march@sydney.edu.au

Professor Anthony Woolf is Professor of Rheumatology, Institute of Health Care Research, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth and Consultant Rheumatologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, UK.  He is Visiting Professor in Musculoskeletal Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund Universty, Sweden, and a member of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Based Healthcare in Musculoskeletal Disorders, Lund University Hospital, Sweden.  He qualified from the London Hospital Medical College, and trained in rheumatology at Hammersmith Hospital, Guy’s Hospital, Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and Bristol Royal Infirmary.

His special interests are in the burden of musculoskeletal conditions, the management of musculoskeletal conditions, medical education and osteoporosis on which he has written widely.  He is involved in various initiatives to raise awareness of the impact of musculoskeletal conditions and priority for education, prevention, treatment and research at a national, European and global level.  He is a founder member of the Bone and Joint Decade and Chair of the International Coordinating Council. He has been and President of the European Board of Rheumatology and of the Section of Rheumatology of the UEMS and Chair of the National Osteoporosis Society, UK.  He is Editor-in-Chief of Best Practice and Research Clinical Rheumatology. He leads the Bone and Joint Monitor Project, a global health needs assessment that provides the evidence base for the Decade; edited the WHO Report on the Burden of Musculoskeletal conditions at the Start of the New Millennium; and coordinated the European Bone and Joint Health Strategies project.  He is co-lead of the Musculoskeletal Expert Group currently revising the Global Burden of Disease and co-chair of the WHO Musculoskeletal Topic Advisory Group that is revising ICD 10.  He is leading the European Musculoskeletal Surveillance and Information Network – a new initiative supported by the European Community to promote a comprehensive strategy to minimise the impact of musculoskeletal conditions across Europe.  He is coordinating the development of EULAR recommendations for the management of osteoporosis associated with inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions.

Contact: Anthony.woolf@btopenworld.com[/su_spoiler]

Kristina Åkesson MD, PhD, Professor of Orthopedics and senior consultant at the Department of Orthopedics at Skåne University Hospital Malmö and the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. She is currently Dean at the Faculty of Medicine and has previously held a number of faculty appointments.

Her research uses a translational approach to identify risk factors for osteoporosis and fracture including genetics, bone markers and epidemiology. This has been accomplished through several large cohorts and the advantage of working within orthopaedics. Research is closely linked to improving patient care as chief of the Centre for Osteoporosis and Fracture Prevention. Her research is supported by grants from the National Research Councils as well as a number of foundations. She is a member of the IOF committee of scientific advisors, co-chairing the Fracture working-group and the Capture the Fracture campaign. She is also member of the ASBMR Bone Marker working-group and former member of the Ethics committee; the board of ACTA Orthopedica, the editorial boards of BMC Geriatrics; Osteoporosis International; reviewer for national research councils, other funding bodies, international congresses and journals. Publications include over two hundred original papers, reviews, book chapters, in addition to guidelines and popular science contributions.

Contact: Kristina.akesson@med.lu.se

Professor Andrew Briggs has combined a career of health policy and systems research; health policy/strategy; health consulting; and clinical practice. He currently works across these domains at a senior level. This unique portfolio mix provides him with skills and real-world insights into health systems strengthening from the clinical coalface through to system-level reform for musculoskeletal health.
The focus of Professor Briggs’ research and policy work has centred on health systems strengthening, oriented around the delivery of high-value care for people with musculoskeletal health conditions and persistent pain across the lifecourse. The work aims to bridge the gap between health policy and research by working with Government and non-government partners to evaluate the development and implementation of health policy and health services relevant to musculoskeletal health.
He holds a full Professor position at Curtin University, WA; is a clinical consultant to WorkSafe Victoria; and a senior consultant to the World Health Organization in musculoskeletal health and healthy ageing.

Damian Hoy is an epidemiologist with a PhD in Epidemiology, a Masters in International Public Health and a Physiotherapy Degree.

He sits on several global expert boards and committees, and has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in international journals. He has 30 years of experience in the health sector and has successfully balanced a career in both industry and academia. He has been the recipient of numerous academic awards and is ranked in the top 1% of his research field.

His key skills include epidemiology, data analysis, disease modeling, technical writing, and project design, monitoring and evaluation.

Dr. Manjul Joshipura is currently President of IATSIC (International Association of Trauma Surgery and Surgical Intensive Care) and Director of Academy of Traumatology (India). He served at WHO HQ in Geneva, Switzerland, leading the global programme on Trauma Care until 2013. During his tenure at WHO he made significant contribution to research, policy development, advocacy and quality improvement programmes in trauma care. He also edited WHO documents on Essential Trauma Care, Trauma QI programmes and Pre-hospital care.
Dr. Joshipura is a medical graduate from Gujarat University, India and had his residency training in Orthopaedic Surgery at Gujarat University teaching hospitals at Ahmedabad, India. He had his higher surgical training in Orthopaedic Surgery at Cambridge and Norwich in England. He was awarded Rowan Nicks Scholarship of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Trauma Surgery and was Honorary Senior Lecturer in Surgery of Trauma at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He was Medical Director and Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad with interest in surgery of orthopaedic trauma and joint replacement.
He serves on board of AO Education Foundation and on International Editorial Board of the journal ‘Injury’ and has large number of international publications, book chapters and editorials in leading surgical journals.

Contact Details :
Academy of Traumatology (India)
504, Sangita Complex,
Ahmedabad 380 015.
India.
www.indiatrauma.org

Email : joshipura@indiatrauma.org
Telefax : +91 792 640 4977
Mobile : + 91 982 506 7045

Professor and Chief of Department of Rheumatology and Immunology,
Director of Clinical Immunology Center, Beijing University,
Director , Institute of Rheumatology and Immunology, People’s Hospital, Beijing University, Beijing, China.

He is the President of Clinical Immunology Association of China, the Past President of Chinese Rheumatology Association and the Past President of Asian and Pacific League Against Rheumatism (APLAR), the Associate Editor of Clinical Rheumatology and International Journal of Rheumatic Disease. He is also the Chief Editor of Chinese Journal of Rheumatology. He serves on the editorial boards of Ann Rheum Dis, Rheumatology, Nat Rev Rheum, Clin Exp Rheum, Curr Opin Rheum. He has received a number of national and international acclaim for his research in rheumatology.

Prof. Li has had a long standing interest in cellular immunology and genetics in rheumatology arthritis, with the focus on study of the molecular mechanisms involved in RA pathogenesis, particularly on HLA-DRB1 molecules, novel autoantigens and T cells. His research group has published over 400 articles on peer reviewed journals in Rheumatology and Immunology, e.g. Nat Med, Cell Host Microbe, Immunity, Ann Internal Med, Nat Rev Rheum, Arthritis Rheumatology, and Annals Rheumatic Disease. He has also contributed to 31 rheumatological textbooks and book chapters..

Contact Details:
Email: zgli99@aliyun.com
Address: 11 Xizhimen South St. 100044, Beijing, China

Dr. Jakob Lothe DC is Past President of the Norwegian Chiropractor´s Association (NKF) and senior chiropractor in active private interdisciplinary practice in Oslo, Norway. He is currently serving as a director on the Board of the World Chiropractic Federation (WFC) representing the WFC European Region 2022-24.

Dr. Lothe received a Doctor of Chiropractic in 1988 from the AECC University College in Bournemouth, England and has for the past 32 years practiced in Norway’s capital city of Oslo.

Dr Lothe served as NKF president from 2010-2018, prior to which he had held office within the Board since 2002. In his capacity as NKF President, Dr Lothe also served on the General Council of the European Chiropractors´ Union (ECU).

From his early professional career he identified the strong need for more interprofessional collaboration in the musculoskeletal field and is actively promoting the need for a greater focus on the impact of disability due to musculoskeletal disorders with special emphasis on back and neck pain.

He holds extensive experience of professional governance, interprofessional collaboration and political expertise with a proven track record of transforming vision into reality through innovative projects and political processes that have delivered tangible results in Norway in particular with respect to building musculoskeletal research capacity and state funding thereof.

Dr. Lothe became involved with the Bone and Joint Decade from its’ beginning in Norway and has chaired the Norwegian Council for Musculoskeletal Health from 2009 to 2021 and was in the organizing committee when Norway hosted the GMUSC Global Summit in Oslo 2015. Since 2017 he was appointed National Action Alliance Task Force Coordinator to the ICC in the Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health.

Shuichi Matsuda is a professor and chairman at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto University. He graduated from medial school of Kyushu University (Japan) in 1990, followed by his specialist training in orthopedic surgery at the Kyushu University hospital and the affiliated hospitals. He took a research fellowship at Barnes West Hospital, Washington University in St Louis (USA). He completed his PhD thesis on knee kinematics in 2002.

Dr.Matsuda has been appointed as assistant and associate professor at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyushu University (1997-2011). In 2012, he was appointed as chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto University, the second oldest university in Japan. He was also appointed to the Chair of Department of Rehabilitation, Kyoto University Hospital.

His main scientific interests are osteoarthritis, cartilage regeneration, knee biomechanics, computer simulation, especially regarding total knee arthroplasty.  He has published more than 460 peer reviewed articles. He became the first active member of the American Knee Society from Asian countries. He also serves on the Knee Committee of ISAKOS, Global Board of ICJR (International Congress for Joint Reconstruction), and he is a member of many international societies such as Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS), AAOS, ORS, AAHKS, ICRS, etc. In 2021, he became president of the Japanese Society for Replacement Arthroplasty

Dr.Matsuda also serves as the associate editor of the International Cancer Conference Journal, CORR and The Knee, and he is on the editorial board of the Journal of Orthopaedic Science, International Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Knee Surgery and Related Research.

Contact: smat522@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Dr Musafir was born in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.

He has post graduate qualifications in Sports Medicine – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Labor Medicine – Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, MBA Health Executive – UFRJ – COPPEAD, and a Master in Orthopedics and Trauma, UFRJ.

His research preferences are in Biomechanics of Impact on Road Traffic Injuries, Minimally Invasive Surgery and DCO – Damage Control Orthopedics.

Dr Musafir has 8 fellowships in 3 Continents.

He was the Head of the Trauma Center of Miguel Couto University Hospital from 1988 – 1996 and the Past President of Brazilian Orthopedic Association (SBOT) in 2007.
Dr. Musafir is a Member of the International Steering Committee – The Bone and Joint Decade since 2002 and a member of several National and International Associations (AAOS; SLAOT; EFORT, etc.). From 2008 to 2009 he was the Medical Officer at WHO in Geneva in Trauma and MSK Disorders.

In 2013 Dr Musafir was the President of INTO – National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics, from the Ministry of Health, World TOP 20. In 2014 he was the State Secretary of Health in Rio de Janeiro and from 2016 till March 2018, also State Secretary in TOCANTINS State. Commencing in 2019, he is currently the Vice Director of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Dr. Musafir has written chapters in 8 different books in Brazil and he is the author of the “Fractures Classification Book”-2000.

Dr. Musafir was awarded Best Association President of all Brazilian Medical Associations in 2007, Surgeon of the Year in Rio 2008, BJD Ambassador in 2009 and 32 others titles.

Contact: mmusafir@uol.com.br

Gerold Stucki is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Medicine at the University of Lucerne and Director of Swiss Paraplegic Research (SPF) in Switzerland. Since 2018, he is founding director of Center for Rehabilitation in Global Health Systems, a WHO Collaborating Center, at the University of Lucerne. After his medical studies and his clinical training in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) and Rheumatology, he obtained a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health (USA) and a diploma in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the University of McGill (Canada). In the context of Prof. Stucki’s research agenda in human functioning and rehabilitation that supports a more comprehensive understanding of the human experience and person- and community-centered care, he has been collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) in an international effort to implement the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in the rehabilitation/health sector. In this effort, he initiated the ICF Research Branch (www.icf-research-branch.org) in 2003, an international research network and cooperation partner. In 2012, Prof. Stucki received the honour of becoming a Foreign Associate of the Institute of Medicine (now called National Academy of Medicine).

Contact: gerold.stucki@paraplegie.ch

Dr. James Waddell was born in Alberta and graduated from the University of Alberta Medical School in 1967.  He did his postgraduate training in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Toronto and assumed a staff position at St. Michael’s Hospital in 1973.

He has occupied a number of positions at St. Michael’s Hospital including Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director of the Trauma Program; he completed 10 years as the Professor& Chairman, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at University of Toronto in June of 2006. He has also occupied a number of positions in the Canadian Orthopaedic Association including President.  He has just completed his 10 year term as the Co-Editor of the Canadian Journal of Surgery.

He is currently the Chair of the Expert Panel for Orthopaedic Surgery for the Province of Ontario and he remains the Coordinator for the National Action Network for the Bone & Joint Decade in Canada, a position he has occupied since 2000. He also is the Co-Chair of the National Hip and Knee Knowledge Translation Network.

Contact: waddellj@smh.ca

Dr. Weinstein is the Ignacio V. Ponseti Chair and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at The University of Iowa.  Dr. Weinstein received his A.B. Honors degree in Political Science and History from the University of Illinois in 1968.  He received his medical degree (Alpha Omega Alpha) from the University of Iowa in 1972.  After interning in Internal Medicine at The University of California San Francisco, he returned to the University of Iowa for a residency in Orthopaedic Surgery. In 1976 he joined the faculty of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at The University of Iowa.
Dr. Weinstein is an NIH funded researcher. He has published more than 180 scientific articles in peer review journals on a wide variety of pediatric orthopaedic conditions. His research work has focused on spinal deformity in children, children’s hip and foot problems, and the natural history and long-term outcome of pediatric musculoskeletal conditions. He has edited three major textbooks including The Pediatric Spine: Principles and Practice; Lovell and Winter’s Pediatric Orthopaedics  and Turek’s Orthopaedics.  Dr. Weinstein’s many contributions to orthopaedics have been recognized by his receipt of the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Zimmer Award for Distinguished Achievement in Orthopaedic Research; The Kappa Delta /Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Clinical Research Award; The Russel Hibbs Award for Clinical Research given by the Scoliosis Research Society;  The Arthur H. Heune Memorial Award, given by the St. Giles Foundation and The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, and the Alfred R. Shands, Sr., MD Award, presented by the Orthopaedic Research Society and The American Orthopaedic Association.
Dr. Weinstein was a recipient of an American, British, Canadian (ABC) Traveling Fellowship in 1985.  He has been honored for his contributions to Orthoapedic Surgery by honorary memberships in National Orthopaedic Associations around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Great Britain, Thailand and Argentina. In 2007 he was made a Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Dr Weinstein is past president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, The American Orthopaedic Association, The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, The United States National Action Network of the International Bone and Joint Decade and The International Center for Orthopaedic Education (ICOE). He has served as an Associate Editor and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Contact: stuart-weinstein@uiowa.edu