Joint Congress Sport & Exercise Medicine Switzerland and Sportfisio
Professional Roles:
- Head of Sports Medicine, Swiss Olympic Medical Center Lucerne-Allmend
- Consultant Sports Medicine Physician, Swiss Olympic Medical Base Tenero
- Chief Medical Officer, Swiss Rowing
- Team Doctor, Swiss Athletics
- Chief Medical Doctor, Central Switzerland Snow Sports Federation
- Team Doctor for various semi-professional and amateur teams (football, ice hockey, athletics)
Athletic Background:
- Former International Athlete in 400m sprint
- Multiple-time National Champion
Mario Bizzini, PhD, MSc, PT is as a research associate at the Human Performance Lab, Schulthess Clinic in Zürich (Switzerland), where he works since 34 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 135 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).
Caroline Bolling is a Brazilian sports physiotherapist. She worked with elite athletes from diverse Olympic sports and was the head therapist of Cirque du Soleil. She completed her PhD at the Amsterdam UMC, giving voice to elite athletes and artists regarding sports injury prevention. She leads and collaborates with multiple projects, developing practice-driven research targeting sports injury prevention, healthy RTS, applying complexity concepts, and qualitative research.
Strength and conditioning coach, phisiotherapist.
University education in Milan, experience with Olympic-level individual athletes, in top club of volley In italy and Europe, Italian and chineese National team of Beach volley. University Professor in Milan, Beijing and Guangzhou.
Andrew is the Clinical Director for our Community Services Division at Cora Health, where he plays a central role in the development and execution of our Clinical Strategy. In addition, he is accountable for clinical quality, innovation, AHP leadership, and health inequalities across our FCP, MSK, Pain, Rheumatology and Talking Therapies services.
Andrew is an ex-Army Officer having previously commissioned into The Royal Yorkshire Regiment. He joined Connect Health (one of the organisations that formed Cora Health) in April 2017 as Clinical Lead.
An experienced Consultant MSK Physiotherapist, he subsequently progressed to Head of MSK, responsible for our FCP, Tier 1 and Tier 2 MSK Services. In May 2023, Andrew was promoted to Director of Clinical Strategy, joining the Executive Team, and assuming responsibility for all specialities within our Community Division.
Andrew has a reputation as an expert clinician and thought leader on an international scale. His PhD focused on the indications and rationale for diagnostic imaging within primary and community care. As an active researcher with numerous clinical papers in peer-reviewed journals, he is a regular speaker at worldwide conferences.
In 2025, Andrew was appointed Visiting Professor at Liverpool Hope University in recognition of his considerable experience, expertise, and standing in healthcare.
Andrew has held Executive positions in several organisations including EUSSER (Chair of Comms); the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (Chair of Education), and most recently the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine (Diplomate Chair) – the first AHP (Allied Health Professional) to join the FSEM Executive Council.
Andrew sits on the Board of Trustees at St Oswald’s Hospice ( a North East-based charity) and attempts to practice what he preaches around physical activity, as a very average runner and cricketer.
François Fourchet is a French sport physiotherapist, osteopath and researcher. He joined the Physiotherapy Department of the Hôpital La Tour in Meyrin/Geneva (Switzerland) in 2014 in order to launch and lead the Motion Analysis Lab. He is the Head of Physiotherapy at La Tour since 2019, managing around 70 staff. Formerly, he was Senior Physiotherapist in Aspire Academy in Doha - Qatar, mainly in charge of Track & Field athlètes and injury prevention programme design and set-up. Before discovering Qatar, this former 800m runner took care of the French Track & Field National team and the professional soccer and basket-ball teams in his native city: Reims (France). He was also one of the co-founder of the Reims Sports Clinic: managing a 10-Physiotherapists team and treating athletes from different sports (e.g. soccer, athletics, tennis, volley-ball, ice hockey…).
More recently, Francois focused on applied science/research and published papers related to foot/ankle injury prevention and foot core strengthening, electromyostimulation, relations between injuries and maturation in adolescent athletes, flexibility assessment and running biomechanics changes due to fatigue. He defended his PhD in Sport Science in 2012 and he is a certified senior lecturer for French universities.
Francois works also now as a university students' supervisor, reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals and he is a member of the International Ankle Consortium.
Suzanne Gard est une physiothérapeute du sport chevronnée, reconnue pour son expertise. Elle est une Physiothérapeute du Sport Accréditée niveau A , Registered International Sports Physiotherapist (RISPT), et Spécialiste Clinique MSQ Physioswiss. Sa carrière est marquée par une vaste expérience dans l'évaluation fonctionnelle et le retour au sport, avec une spécialisation dans la physiothérapie pour adolescents, les tests post-ligamentoplastie du genou, et la rééducation des instabilités de l'épaule et de la cheville.
Au cours de sa carrière, Suzanne a accompagné pendant 12 ans les équipes nationales de basketball féminin et participé à de nombreux événements sportifs majeurs. Cette expérience de terrain lui a permis de développer une expertise pointue dans la gestion des lésions de surcharge dans le sport. Depuis 2016, elle partage ses connaissances en enseignant à la Haute École de Santé à Genève, contribuant ainsi à la formation de la prochaine génération de physiothérapeutes.
Suzanne Gard est activement impliquée dans plusieurs associations professionnelles, notamment l'International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT), l'Association Suisse de Physiothérapie du Sport, et SPARK Vaud. Son engagement dans ces organisations témoigne de sa volonté de contribuer au développement et à l'amélioration continue de la physiothérapie du sport.
Passionnée par son domaine, Suzanne cultive un intérêt général pour le sport et la lecture. Cette combinaison d'expertise professionnelle, d'engagement associatif et d'intérêts personnels fait de Suzanne Gard une figure respectée dans le monde de la physiothérapie du sport. Les langues parlées incluent le français, l'anglais.
Dr Gojanovic is a sports and exercise physician from Lausanne. He has worked at Macolin (Swiss Federal Office for Sport) and Stanford University. Currently he heads health and performance at Hôpital de La Tour’s Swiss Olympic medical center in Geneva.
He is the president of Sport & Exercise Medicine Switzerland (SEMS), and the editor-in-chief of SEMS journal (www.sems-journal.ch).
The daily clinical work with patients and athletes fuels his motivation and drive for impactful change in the health and wellbeing of people and athletes alike.
He aims to contribute to the growth of SEM as an essential part of the healthcare system. This includes the increase of the awareness about the role of healthy lifestyles and overall fitness for prevention of sports-related conditions and chronic diseases alike.
Dr Gojanovic is also an advocate for safe sport and is involved in the development of safeguarding strategies in Swiss sports.
A few links for Dr Gojanovic
- Health for Performance, what does it mean: https://sems-journal.ch/8021
- Social media: X @DrSportSante, LinkedIn: Boris Gojanovic, MD
- Podcast featured:
- BJSM: on youth athletes, « Secrets for clinicians for elite and recreational youth athletes ».
- Objectif Performance (in French): « Pas de performance sans santé »:
- The Physical Activity Researcher : « How medical doctors can use activity trackers? »
- The Scott Poynton podcast.
- Publications : Pubmed link.
Dr. Karin Grävare Silbernagel is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware and serves as Director of the Center for Human Research Coordination. She is a licensed Physical Therapist and Certified Athletic Trainer with over three decades of clinical experience and a globally recognized clinical scientist in the field of musculoskeletal rehabilitation.
Dr. Silbernagel earned her Physical Therapy and Athletic Training degrees from Boston University, followed by a Master’s and PhD from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Her career spans over 34 years, including more than a decade of full-time work in sports medicine—ranging from clinical care in semi-professional sports to consulting for professional sports organizations in the U.S. and internationally.
Her expertise lies in orthopaedics and the management of musculoskeletal injuries, particularly tendon and ligament injuries. At the University of Delaware, she leads both the Delaware Tendon Research Group and the Delaware ACL Research Group. With over 180 peer-reviewed publications, her research has significantly influenced clinical practice, and her findings have been directly incorporated into international clinical guidelines for the treatment of tendon injuries.
Dr. Silbernagel’s innovative research approach evaluates the multifactorial nature of tendon and ligament injuries—including tendon composition and mechanical properties, functional performance, gait mechanics, symptoms, and biopsychosocial factors. Her goal is to develop precision rehabilitation strategies that address the heterogeneity in injury presentation and optimize patient outcomes. This work is supported by major funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Foundation for Physical Therapy, Swedish Research Council, and Swedish Research Council for Sport Science (including NIH grants R21AR067390, R01AR072034, R37HD037985, R01AR078898, and R21AR077282).
A highly sought-after speaker, Dr. Silbernagel has presented at scientific and clinical conferences around the world. She is also deeply committed to research training and mentorship. Through her leadership, research, and mentorship, Dr. Silbernagel continues to shape the future of rehabilitation science and improve the lives of patients with tendon and ligament injuries worldwide.
Ian has been a physiotherapist for over 34 years. He worked as a physiotherapist for England Rugby Union, for 14 years, with various teams, and spent the last 9 years working with the Elite Playing squad, as physiotherapist to England ‘A’ teams.
Currently Ian is Athlete Health Lead (Upper Limb) for the UK Sports Institute, Clinical Director of Back in Action Rehabilitation, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, associate lecturer at Salford University, and member of the EdCom for EUSSER and BESS, along with the many one- and two-day courses he teaches across Europe.
He concluded his PhD in 2103 examining the issues around shoulder injuries in professional rugby and has published several articles in peer reviewed journals on the subject of musculoskeletal injury management and contributed chapters to several books on sports injury management.
He worked as part of the HQ medical team for Team England at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, was a member of the Team GB HQ medical team at the 2012, 2016 and 2020/21 and 2024 Olympic Games and currently is a Consultant Physiotherapist to England Football.
In his spare time, Ian spends most of his time trying to learn to play golf, cycling, supporting Barnsley FC and having some quality time with his wife now the children have grown.
Professor Rowena Johnson is a consultant musculoskeletal radiologist working in professional sports with international athletes and clubs including within Formula 1, the Premier League, Championship football, Lawn Tennis Association, Olympic disciplines, international rugby and cricket, and the Royal Ballet. She works at the Mayo Clinic and at the Fortius Clinic, London. She has a wide breadth of experience also having worked at the University of Toronto Hospitals, Oxford University Hospitals, and as a full-time editor at the British Medical Journal.
She is the Chair of Sports Medicine Imaging at the Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University which is the largest provider of sport in UK higher education. She is also a visiting Professor at the Dartmouth- Hitchock Medical Centre, University of Dartmouth, USA. She has held multiple leadership positions at the Royal College of Radiologists including as Chair and Clinical Lead of Education, Faculty Board, Professional Support & Standards Board, RCR Newsletter Editor. She is a member of the NIHR Imaging Working group with an interest in Artificial Intelligence. Further roles include Vice-Chair of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry, UK/Ireland Panel and a member of the International Scientific Advisory Council.
Dr. Alexandre Lädermann is Privat Docent at the University of Geneva, founder of BeeMed and Med4Cast, and president of the foundation for Research and Teaching in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Trauma, and Imaging (FORE). He is a leading specialist in the field of shoulder and elbow surgery, with more than 350 publications in journals and books. Dr. Alexandre Lädermann is placed number one of scholars writing about the Shoulder Surgery over the past 10 years by Expertscape's PubMed-based algorithms, a level labeled as "World Expert. » He also has been ranked top 0.2% scientist considered in the subfield of all orthopedics by Stanford University.
He is a member of the Central Committee of the French Arthroscopic Society (SFA), past president of Swiss Shoulder Society (Expertengruppe Schulter und Ellbogen (Swiss Orthopaedics)), and past president of the Membership Committee and Member of the Central Committee of the European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and the Elbow (SECEC/ESSSE).
Dr Alexandre Lädermann joined Hôpital de La Tour in 2011, where he is in charge of the shoulder and elbow surgery development in the Division of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery.
I received my PhD from the University of Burgundy (France) in 2000, where I subsequently worked as an Assistant Professor. Since 2005 I am the Head of the Human Performance Lab at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich (Switzerland). My research mainly focuses on the investigation and improvement of human neuromuscular function in vivo, with the ultimate wish to provide useful knowledge to researchers and practitioners working in different fields.
Jacques Menetrey has studied medicine at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He completed his orthopaedic training at the University Hospital of Geneva and achieved a Sports Medicine Fellowship and Research Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He wrote his medical thesis about “Musculoskeletal injuries in professionnal dancing” in 1995, and his privat docent thesis about “How to Improve muscle healing” in 2004, both successfully presented at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Jacques Menetrey is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University Hospital of Geneva and acted as the head of the Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Unit from 2003 to 2016. He is currently the Medical Director of the Swiss Olympic Medical Center at Hirslanden Clinique La Colline in Geneva Switzerland from 2016. His main area of clinical activity is orthopaedic sports medicine focusing upon knee and muscle surgery, as well as primary knee replacement surgery. He is also the medical director of the professional ice hockey team GSHC, and has been the medical director of Alpine Skiing at the Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020, Doctor for the Swiss Alpine Ski Team, former medical director of the Cycling World Pro Team IAM cycling, of the Geneva Supercross, the Béjart ballet and Geneva ballet. Jacques has been the head of the Geneva basic and advanced knee arthroscopy course for more than 20 years now.
He has received more than 20 national and international awards. Jacques was AOSSM-ESSKA traveling fellow in 1999.
His research has focused upon regenerative medicine, cell therapy, and tissue engineering applied to muscle, ligament and cartilage. His clinical research has focused upon meniscal and ACL injury, as well as muscle injury. Pr Menetrey is also editorial board member and reviewer
of several national and international scientific journals in orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine, and the editor of the yearly Sports Medicine issue of the Revue Medicale Suisse. He authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He notably co-edited the bestseller: “The Knee Joint: Surgical Techniques and Strategies”.
He is currently the Past-President of ESSKA.
Jacques is married with his wife Isabelle and has two brilliant sons working as environmental scientist and as airplane pilot. He enjoys being in the mountain to perform alpine skiing, ski touring, biking, and hiking. He loves living arts (Theatre, dance, concert, circus).
coming up…
PhD in Medicine and Surgery from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Sports Medicine specialist from the Universitat de Barcelona.
Main activity is the diagnosis, treatment and return-to-play process of muscle and tendon injuries, especially the ultrasound diagnosis and ultrasound-guided procedures and MRI imaging.
Advisor to multiple professional sports teams of the English Premier League and Premiership, Italian Serie A, Spanish La Liga, Belgium Pro League and German Bundesliga (football) as well as with National teams and Federations. External assessor for NBA teams (basketball) and NFL teams.
Researching about the diagnosis and topography of muscle injuries and the pathophysiology of the tendon.
Brice Picot is a Senior Lecturer and sports physiotherapist specializing in lower limb injuries, particularly ankle sprains and ACL tears. He holds a PhD in Sports Science with research focusing on proprioception and injury prevention in handball. He teaches anatomy, biomechanics, and rehabilitation at Université Savoie Mont Blanc and trains clinicians nationwide. He is a scientific committee member of the French Society of Sports Physiotherapists and was part of the French national handball team’s medical staff. His last research focused on return to sport management among patients suffering from chronic ankle instability and ACL injuries.
Professor Yannis Pitsiladis has an extensive research background in the role of lifestyle and genetics in human health and performance. His current work focuses on human enhancement technologies in health and disease, emphasizing responsible paradigms. His latest research, funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), applies “omics” (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics) and artificial intelligence to detecting doping in sport, particularly blood doping and testosterone use.
Professor Pitsiladis is a member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, the Executive Committee and Chair of the Scientific Commission of the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), and the Scientific and Education Commission of the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA). He also serves on WADA’s Health Medical Research Committee (HMRC) and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
With over 250 scientific publications and multiple-authored and edited books, his research has influenced both scientific and popular discourse. His work has been featured in documentaries such as Kipchoge: The Last Milestone (2021, directed by Jake Scott, executive produced by Ridley Scott) and Enhanced (2018, directed by Alex Gibney), as well as in bestselling books like The Sports Gene and Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice.
I am a sport physiotherapist working in La Tour Hospital in Geneva, mostly treating muscle and tendon injuries. I recently completed my PhD in University Savoie Mont Blanc on the topic of hamstring muscle mechanical constraints during sprint running acceleration.
PhD (1999) and Associate Professor (2003) Lund University, Sweden. Professor (2007-) and Head of Research (2007-2020), Musculoskeletal Function and Physiotherapy, Department of Sports and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark; Honorary Professorial Fellow, Melbourne University, Australia (2010-20). Adjunct Professor, LaTrobe University, Australia (2015-).
Professor Roos has a passion for advancing the frontiers of knowledge in muscle and joint health to improve the quality of life of those with musculoskeletal disease and to improve health care delivery for these conditions. Her focus is on patient-reported outcomes, exercise therapy, surgical treatments and clinical care pathways.
Professor Roos is the author of 350+ peer-reviewed publications. She has published ground-breaking randomized trials comparing exercise therapy to orthopaedic surgery in high impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the British Medical Journal. Her work has been cited in total 30.932 times and her h-index is 81 (Web of Science, August 2025). She has supervised 29 PhD-theses to completion. Seven of her PhD students are now full professors and four of them have received awards and/or prestigious post-doctoral funding from the Swedish and Danish Medical Research Councils, and ERC Starting and Consolidator grants.
Professor Roos has contributed to the paradigm shift in the treatment of knee ligament and meniscus injuries and the long-term consequences thereof (osteoarthritis), conditions for which exercise today is a cornerstone treatment. She has been able to produce high-impact clinical research and translate that research into clinical tools that are easily and effectively implemented in hospitals, primary care clinics and community settings. She has served as an expert on clinical guideline committees for osteoarthritis (Sweden and Norway 2003, Sweden 2007-12, chair 2017-20, Denmark 2012, Osteoarthritis Research Society International 2014, China 2017) and meniscus injury (Denmark 2015), thereby impacting the delivery of clinical care worldwide.
In 2014, her contribution to public health was recognised when she won the OARSI Clinical Research Award for her “outstanding work in exercise as prevention and treatment of joint pain, joint injury and osteoarthritis”, and the Queen Ingrid of Denmark’s prize for outstanding arthritis research by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and the Danish Rheumatism Association. In 2023, she was awarded The Johannes Linhard Prize awarded every 4th year by the Danish Sports Medicine Association and the Danish Sports Physiotherapy Association for outstanding research in sports medicine, and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog from Her Majesty Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark, awarded for “a special contribution within the fields of art, science, and business or for activities promoting Danish interests”.
Professor Roos has as main or co-applicant obtained funding for a grand total corresponding to the equivalence of 12 611 380 Euros.
Philippe M. Tscholl, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Sports Medicine specialist, is Senior Consultant at the Geneva University Hospitals for Knee Surgery and Sports Traumatology, Medical Director of the Swiss Olympic Medical Center, Board member of the IOC medical center Re-FORM (Réseau Francophone Olympique pour la Recherche en Médecine du sport) and of SEMS (education). He is member of several international societies and expert groups around the knee and sports medicine, member of the editorial board of the KSSTA, Cartilage and Translational Sports Medicine journal and author of more than 100 scientific articles around the knee and sports medicine. He is amongst other team physician of the Swiss National Man Football team and of several local teams, and has participated at several European Youth Olympic Festivals as chief medical officer for Switzerland.
Rod Whiteley is Assistant Director of the Rehab Department and Physiotherapist at Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha, Qatar, where he leads clinical and research initiatives focused on athlete health and performance. With a PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Sydney, Dr. Whiteley has over three decades of experience in sports physiotherapy, including roles in private practice and as a consultant for elite sports organizations. He is recognized internationally for his research on injury prevention, rehabilitation, and the clinical application of evidence-based physiotherapy, as evidenced by his extensive publication record, keynote lectures, and contributions to clinical practice guidelines in sports medicine.
Fiona Wilson is a Professor and Physiotherapist in the School of Medicine in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has over 30 years clinical and research experience in sports medicine in the UK, South Africa and Ireland. Her focus sports have been rowing and rugby where she has had extensive clinical experience, including as lead physiotherapist for Rowing Ireland for 10 years, and now as a member of the World Rowing Sports Medicine Commission. The emphasis of her research has been athlete back pain and brain health across sports, and a more recent focus has been on athlete wellbeing and safeguarding within these areas. She is a Deputy Editor for the British Journal of Sports Medicine and the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. A former elite rower, she is now an enthusiastic masters rower, runner and a cautious cyclist.
