Baris Kocaoglu is a Professor of orthopaedics and sports medicine at Acibadem University Faculty of Medicine in Istanbul, Turkey. He serves as a council and extended board member of the European Society of Sports Traumatology Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) and is the editor of the ESSKA Academy. Additionally, he is an Associate Editor of the KSSTA (Knee Surgery Sports Traumatology and Arthroscopy) journal. He completed his sports medicine fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, USA, between 2006 and 2007 and the ESSKA-AOSSM Travelling Fellowship in 2019. He worked as the chair of the ESSKA U-45 Committee from 2020 to 2022. He has been a faculty member of numerous cadaver courses and national and international meetings in the field of sports medicine. He has 96 SCI and SCI-extended indexed publications, and he is the corresponding author of 76 of them. He has authored 10 international book chapters on sports injuries. He has beenone of the editors of ESSKA books, including 'Basketball Sports Medicine and Science' and 'How to Present a Scientific Study'Dr. Lior Laver (ISR), MD, is s Sports Orthopaedic surgeon, from Israel and currently based at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center (HYMC) in Hadera, Israel - A Technion University Hospital. Dr. Laver’s main practice involves arthroscopic treatment of sports related injuries of the knee, hip and shoulder. His main field of research is treatment outcomes and return to sport decision making in athletic populations. He is also the co-chair of ESSKA-ORBIT (The European Orthobiologics initiative) as well as a board member of the European Sports Medicine Associates (ESMA) section in ESSKA. Dr. Laver is currently the head physician at the Israeli Football Association and is also one of the lead consultants of the Medical and Health sciences platform at the European Handball Federation (EHF). He brings a unique perspective, combining his personal experience as a former professional handball player at high international level and the hands on medical experience that he has accumulated internationally with some of the highest level organizations such as the FC Barcelona football club in Spain, Duke University athletics department (football and basketball) in the US and Israeli top clubs as Maccabi Tel-Aviv football club, Bnei-HaSharon basketball club, the Israeli national teams in volleyball and of course - handball. Dr Laver is the lead editor of 2 recent sport-specific sports medicine books: "Basketball Sports Medicine and Science" and "Handball Sports Medicine - basic science, injury management and return to sport".Laura de Girolamo, PhD was born and grew up in Italy, where she received her MSc in Biology and Ph.D from the University of Milan. She got her post-doctoral training between the Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute and other international centres among which the Brigham and Women’s Hospital – Harvard University of Boston. She iscurrently the Director of the Orthopaedic Biotechnology Laboratory of the Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute in Milan and of the platform RE.GA.IN® (Regenerative Galeazzi Institute). Her basic and translational research focus is on mesenchymal stem cells, particularly derived from adipose tissue and tendons. The goal of Dr. de Girolamo’s laboratory is to derive biological solutions aimed to promote cartilage, tendon and bone regeneration by improving activity and clinical therapeutic potential of MSCs. She served as PI or co-PI in several research projects collaborating with national and international research centres. She is author of more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and 10 book chapters in orthopaedics and regenerative medicine. She has been invited speaker at several national and international congresses and courses. From 2016 to 2020 she was Chairwoman of the Basic Science Committee of the European Society of Sports Traumatology Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) and she is currently co-leading the ESSKA Orthobiologics Initiative. From 2016 she is Chairwoman of the Research Committee of Italian Knee Surgery Arthroscopy Sports and Cartilage Society (SIAGASCOT). She was co-founder of the Italian Mesenchymal Stem Cell Group (GISM) and currently member of the Executive Committee. She is Associate Editors of Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics and of Joints, as well as member of the Editorial Board of Knee Surgery Sport Traumatology Arthroscopy (KSSTA). She has also been Guest Editors and reviewers for many peer-reviewed Journals and in both Orthopaedics and Basic Science.Riccardo Compagnoni, MD, was born and grew up in Italy. He graduated in medicine in 2007 and attended the residency program in Orthopedics and Traumatology for the University of Milan, becoming a specialist in 2012. He has worked in the last few years as an orthopedic surgeon at Gaetano Pini Hospital in Milan. He started working in 2021 as an assistant professor for the University of Milan. His clinical, surgical, and scientific activity is focused on knee and shoulder pathologies, especially regarding sports trauma. He has published more than 40 papers indexed in Pubmed/Medline regarding these topics. His international experience includes a period at the Stanford Clinic in October 2015 and international traveling fellowships such as the ESSKA Osteotomy fellowship in 2018 and EKA fellowship in 2019. He has been a speaker at several national and international congresses and courses. Dr. Compagnoni is an editorial board member of KSSTA and the Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. He is also a reviewer for AJSM, KSSTA, and the Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. In 2020, he was awarded as the best reviewer of KSSTA. Dr. Compagnoni is active in scientific societies and is a member of the Under 45 Committee of ESSKA, a Board member of EKA, and Chair of the Guidelines Committee of SIAGASCOT.
