International Invited Speakers
Prof George Athwal is originally from Vancouver, and completed his M.D. at the University of British Columbia. Following completion of his orthopedic surgery residency at Queen’s University, he spent 2 years sub-specializing in upper extremity reconstruction at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. In 2005, he joined the Hand and Upper Limb Centre at the University of Western Ontario. He is actively involved in biomechanical and clinical research pertaining to the shoulder and elbow.
Dr Athwal has published over 300 scientific articles and 50 book chapters and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and Clinics in Shoulder & Elbow. He is the past president of the Association of Clinical Elbow and Shoulder Surgeons (ACESS) and is on the executive board for the American Shoulder & Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and for the Canadian Shoulder & Elbow Society (CSES). Dr Athwal has also founded and co-chairs his own conference on shoulder replacement surgery, entitled the Advanced Shoulder ArthroPlasty (ASAP) meeting, which occurs biennially at the Snowbird Resort, Utah, USA.
Prof In-Ho Jeon. In 1996, the most underdeveloped field of study in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in Korea was on elbow and shoulder joints. After completing my residency, I came to the conclusion that the field of elbow and shoulder joints requires challenge and research as it is relatively unexplored than fracture trauma or spine and hip joints. That is how I decided to receive training in the United Kingdom (UK) where a long tradition and history of various fields of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery exists. While it was not common for anyone to go overseas to learn clinical surgery in those days, my fellowship in the UK was the most valuable time of my life to learn how to examine the patients and also experience patients of various nationalities. Building upon my experience so far, I have performed about 3,850 cases of surgeries at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at AMC since 2010 to date. In detail, I have performed around 1,700 cases of rotator cuff repair, 217 cases of artificial shoulder joint replacement, and 145 cases of elbow arthrolysis. Also, I am ceaselessly researching to better treatment options for patients suffering from shoulder and elbow pain and injury.
Born in Paris, doctor Philippe Valenti did a fellowship in Paris university and was interested to the surgery of the upper limb under the influence of the professors Alain Gilbert and AC Masquelet. As microsurgeon, he developed his experience on hand reconstruction, nerve surgery, brachial plexus surgery and free flap transfer. He worked between 1987 -1989 with Dr Didier Patte before to travel to United states to visit Dr Rick Matsen and Dr Charles Rockwood.
In 1995, Dr Valenti was admitted in the ”Institut de la Main” where he focused is activity on shoulder reconstruction( arthroplasty, arthroscopy, nerves reconstruction and tendon transfer). In 2003, Doctor Valenti is one of the designers of the first complete convertible shoulder prosthesis (Arrow shoulder arthroplasty). In 2004, Doctor Valenti was president of the French microsurgery society(GAM) and since 2008 he is the general secretary of this French microsurgery society. In 2012, He organized in Paris the congress of the European Federation Microsurgery Society (EFMS).
In 2019 Dr Valenti was the president of the French Academy of orthopaedic and traumatology (AOT) and past president of the French 0rthopaedic Society of the Shoulder and Elbow (SOFEC).
He has over 120 publications on PubMed and has written 6 books including « Tendon transfer for irreparable cuff tear » (Springer).
He is also a founder and member of the French Humanitarian Association « Chaine de l’espoir » and Vice president of Chaine de l’Espoir.
Physio Speakers
Tanya Bell-Jenje is a manual therapist, international lecturer & developer of the Groovi Movements Physio Software.
She is a founder of BRH Physiotherapists and a Director of ‘Off Nicol Health Wellness & Rehab’ in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her earlier experiences revolved around her position as Physiotherapist for the SA Ladies Hockey Team & the South African Cricket Academy. She was team physio at Commonwealth Games as well as the Sydney Olympics. She has been an Honorary Lecturer at Wits University & has lectured at various orthopaedic congresses and presented numerous workshops pertaining to Physiotherapy for movement dysfunction both locally, in the USA, Middle East, India, Netherlands & the UK. During the Covid Pandemic, she presented numerous live webinars to an international audience. Her interests are in Biomechanics and Kinematics for an integrated approach to injury treatment and prevention. All individuals should have the benefit of functioning optimally & painfree, regardless of if they are athletic or not. Tanya’s courses have an Advanced Professional Level 2 (APDL 2) rating. (BSc Physio (UCT), MSc Physio (WITS)
Dr Janine Gray is a clinical physiotherapist and runs her own practice. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town. She also holds an honorary position at the University of Stellenbosch. She is a director of ‘The Locker Room’ which is an online education platform. She completed her PhD degree at the University of Capetown (UCT) in 2012 investigating ‘The aetiology of lower back pain in cricket fast bowlers’. She lectures masters Sports Medicine and Sports Physiotherapy students and undergraduate biokineticist students in addition to private lecturing. Dr Gray has authored and co-authored 25 peer reviewed papers. Her research interests include but are not limited to generalised performance and injury prevention strategies in cricket and water polo, with a specific interest in lower back pain and shoulder pain. She is a registered physiotherapist with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa and also lectures in the Sports Physiotherapy and Orthopaedic Manipulative therapy courses offered by the South African Society of Physiotherapy. She a member of the International faculty for the Sri Ramachandra University, India and has co-ordinated the Cricket Centre of Excellence at the Institute.