Clinical Advisory Board (CAB)

Professor Mats Brittberg (MD)

Chairman of the Clinical Advisory Board

Mats Brittberg is a member of the Cartilage Research Unit at University of Gothenburg and an orthopedic surgeon at Region Halland Orthopaedics (Varberg Hospital). He received his MD at the University of Gothenburg in 1978 and completed a specialization in orthopedics in 1985. In 1992 he passed the Swedish Orthopedic Board Exam (S.O.B.E.), and in 1996 he earned a PhD. Mats Brittberg is a professor of orthopaedics connected to the Institution of clinical sciences and orthopaedic department, University of Gothenburg. He is now also guest-professor at the National Autonomous University in Mexico.

Mats Brittberg’s research has been focused on cartilage repair and with main focus on cartilage regeneration with in vitro expanded autologous chondrocytes. Mats Brittberg has also had research collaboration with Virginia Tech in USA on biotribology in cartilage and osteoarthritis as well as research collaborations with other centers and companies in Europe and North America. Besides pure cartilage research, Mats interest is now also focused on joint preservation research and studies on joint pain mechanisms. Clinically, he has been working with joint restoration the last 36 years.

Mats Brittberg received the award The Swedish Medical Association Jubilee Medal in silver 1995. In September, 2010, Mats Brittberg received the ICRS Genzyme Lifetime Achievement Award in cartilage research and in 2012, the Shetty- Kim Foundation (SKF) Scientific award. In 2014, Mats Brittberg also received the SKF and UK Cartilage Club’s Life time achievement Award. In 2016, he received another Life time Award in cartilage research. At The international Joint preservation congress, Warzaw, Poland.

Mats Brittberg has been on the board of TESi (Tissue engineering Society International) and has been chairing the Cartilage Committee of ESSKA 2006-08. Since the start 1997, he has been working with ICRS, as a secretary, Vice-president and President (2006-2008) and finally Past-President (2008-2009). He is Editor-in-Chief for the Sage journal ¨CARTILAGE. He has been associate editor with ESSKA journal as well as he is being on the editorial board of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. He has been involved in several book projects as editor. Between 2013 and 2018 he was also strategic leader of Aspetar Sports Cartilage Center in Doha, Qatar.Mats will also be godfather for the 2023 travelling ICRS Fellowship.

Dr. Emmanuel Papakostas (MD)

Emmanuel Papakostas studied medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, receiving his medical degree in 1993. He received his orthopaedic specialization diploma in 2004 and has worked in the private sector in Greece until early 2020 when he joined Aspetar Hospital, one of the leading Centers, worldwide, in the field of Orthopedic Sports Surgery and Sports Medicine.

During and after residency he attended several international meetings in the field of sports orthopaedics and cartilage repair, being awarded several national and international fellowships. His work as a young investigator on ankle ligament injuries was awarded the Einjar Ericsson FIMS Award in 2002.

He became an ICRS (International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society) full member in 2005 (one of the first two Greeks), being a committee member, chairman and now member of General Board. He is also a member of European Society of Sports orthopaedics Knee surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA), International Society of Arthroscopy Knee surgery and Orthopaedic Sports medicine (ISAKOS) and of several other societies in the field of Sports Medicine and Sports Orthopaedics.

His sports background (national and international level athletics) made him focus on sports injuries prevention and treatment and especially cartilage defects having been inspired by the ICRS.

He served as head team physician of professional football teams and consultant surgeon for several clubs and national associations, being actively involved in 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

Currently, Dr Papakostas is working in ASPETAR, an institution covering A to Z multidisciplinary services in Sports pathologies. He is the clinical lead on cartilage regeneration and joint preservation unit, building progressively a Center of Excellence.

During the last 20 years Dr Papakostas wrote chapters in Sports Medicine and Sports Orthopaedics books (12), published papers in peer reviewed journals (26) and presented more than 150 papers and lectures in national and international congresses as an invited speaker.

Teemu Paatela (MD)

Teemu Paatela currently serves as the Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon and the Director of Musculoskeletal Businesses at Terveystalo, the largest private healthcare provider in Finland, operating nearly 20 hospitals across the country. He is also a consultant knee surgeon at Terveystalo Hospital, where he routinely performs arthroscopy and cartilage surgery. He received his MD from the University of Helsinki in 2003 and went on to specialize in orthopaedics and traumatology, earning his degree in 2011. He has also pursued leadership training from reputable institutions such as The University of Helsinki, The Aalto University Executive Education, and The Finnish Medical Association.

Before joining Terveystalo, Teemu Paatela worked at Helsinki University Central Hospital as a consultant knee surgeon, and held various administrative positions, e.g. a board member of musculoskeletal division at Helsinki University Hospital and a chief of ward at Helsinki University Hospital arthroscopic unit. He also served as a consultant for a Finnish private insurance company. Teemu Paatela has been an active member of the Finnish Orthopaedic Association, serving as the Secretary and a Board Member from 2011-2014. He has also chaired and served as a member of the organizing committee for biannual educational orthopaedic meetings of The Finnish Orthopaedic Association from 2012 to 2020, and was a member of the organizing committee of the Helsinki meeting of Nordic Orthopaedic Federation in 2014.

Teemu Paatela has conducted research on cartilage repair, with 10 peer-reviewed publications in international journals. His research has focused on evaluating cartilage repair outcomes. He has also investigated the impact of changing evidence on treatment practices in orthopaedics and introduced methods for improving patient flow in large-volume hospitals. As a member of Professor Ilkka Kiviranta’s research team, he participated on investigations on COPLA implant from bench to bedside. He performed surgeries in the initial animal trials and is currently the coordinating investigator of the first COPLA trial on humans.

Konstantinos Epameinontidis

Konstantinos has been “torturing” patients with musculoskeletal problems for more than 20 years. He graduated from Physiotherapy School in Greece in 1999 and also holds a BSc in Health Sciences from Leeds Metropolitan University. Since his graduation he has been a full-time clinician with a special focus on sports injuries. He was the founder and director of Veria Physiotherapy Center from 2000 until 2005. From 2006 until 2013, he founded and directed a expanded physiotherapy clinic which offered medical spa services in addition to physiotherapy services. In 2008, he affiliated with Sports Clinic Thessaloniki and was assigned to provide post-operative rehabilitation guidelines and programs to patients who underwent advance cartilage repair procedures. In 2013 he moved to Qatar and ASPETAR Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Hospital, where he still works as a senior sports physiotherapist. His clinical caseload includes rehabilitation of all types of knee injuries and surgeries, ankle injuries and spine injuries. He is also the education coordinator for the rehabilitation department at Aspetar since 2015. He has contributed to two book chapters related to advances in rehabilitation techniques for the lower limb and return to sports after knee surgery. He was an invited speaker in several international conferences held in Qatar, Greece and Poland.

Konstantinos is a member of the Hellenic Physiotherapy Association since 1999 and a member of ICRS since 2010.
He is also a PhD student at the university of Kent (UK) and his research work focuses on the use of wearable technology in the on-field biomechanical assessment of “unhappy knees” of football players after knee surgery. Other research and clinical interests include the use of blood flow restriction training on patients with lower limb musculoskeletal problems and optimal loading strategies following cartilage repair surgery.