Evert Verhagen (1976) is a human movement scientist and epidemiologist. He is the UEFA Medical Research Advisor and holds a University Research Chair as a full professor at the Department of Public and Occupational Health of the Amsterdam UMC. He is the Editor in Chief of BMJ Open Sports & Exercise Medicine, the director of the Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports (one of the 11 IOC research centers), and director of the Amsterdam Institute of Sports Sciences (AISS). His research revolves around the prevention of sports and physical activity related injuries; including monitoring, cost-effectiveness and implementation issues. He supervises several (inter-)national PhDs and post-docs and has (co-) authored multiple peer-reviewed publications around these topics.

David Fevre MSc MCSP SRP is currently working as a freelance clinician/lecturer in physiotherapy and sports injury rehabilitation. He has consultancy roles with several European, Premiership, WSL, Championship and EFL football clubs and is on the teaching faculty for both the Football Association (FA) and Rugby Football League (RFL). He was Head of Sports Medicine for Blackburn Rovers FC until January 2017, having been in post since July 1999. Prior to this, he was previously Chartered Physiotherapist for Wales (2002-2005), Manchester United FC (1994-1999), Great Britain Rugby League (1990-1994), Wigan RL (1989-1994) and Leigh RL (1984-1989). He worked in the NHS immediately after gaining his Chartered status and then within several sports injury clinics based in the private hospital sector prior to these full-time posts in elite sport.
He lectures internationally and in the UK on subjects related to sports injury rehabilitation, has had articles/research papers published in several rehabilitation related journals and is the author of the book ‘Collision Sports Injury and Repair.’ He is also an honorary lecturer at both Salford and Manchester University and was awarded the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Professional Football’ award in 2014 by the Football Medical Association (FMA) and ‘The Fabrice Mouamba Outstanding Contribution to Professional Football Award in the NW of England’ in 2015. In 2022 he was invited to speak at the world-renowned Oxford Union Debate on England’s participation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Caroline Bolling is a sports physiotherapist. She worked with elite athletes from diverse Olympic sports, was head therapist of Cirque du Soleil. She completed her PhD at the Amsterdam UMC, with qualitative studies on the experiences of elite athletes and artists about the prevention of sports injuries. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports, an IOC Research Center/Amsterdam UMC, working in multiple projects developing practice-driven research targeting sports injury prevention, RTS, complexity and qualitative research.

Amanda Johnson PhD, Grad Dip Phys, MCSP, FHEA

Amanda Johnson is a physiotherapist with over 40 years’ experience in a variety of roles but
predominantly high-level sport. She has worked with the England Athletics and Great Britain
Aquatic teams including swimming and synchro swimming which was then followed by 10
years with the GB diving team.
She then moved into professional football and worked at all levels including 5 years as the
National team Physiotherapist for the England Ladies Team. This was followed by 10 years
as the senior physiotherapist at Manchester United Academy before a move to Qatar as
lead physiotherapist for the Aspire Youth Academy for 8 years. After Aspire she worked in
India setting up a youth football academy and has several peer reviewed articles published.
Her research interests and PhD are centrered around growth, maturation, and injury in
youth athletes and she has lectured at many international conferences on topics concerning
youth athletes
She is now a Senior Lecturer in the Physiotherapy department in the Faculty of Health and
Education at Manchester Metropolitan University and is a Fellow of the Higher Education
Authority.

Dr Jo Abbott, PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Clinical Anatomist | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Movement & Pain Specialist | Global Researcher & Lecturer

Dr Jo Abbott is a global researcher, educator, and integrative clinician with a background in clinical anatomy, functional medicine, and pain science. With over 20 years of experience at the cutting edge of rehabilitation, movement, and lifestyle medicine, she is widely respected for her innovative, whole-person approach to chronic pain, injury recovery, and performance optimization.

Jo’s journey began in the world of electromechanical engineering, where her analytical mindset and systems thinking laid the foundation for a seamless transition into clinical biomechanics. Complementing her clinical expertise is her own strong athletic career, which fuels her passion for movement, performance, and recovery from the inside out. Her deep understanding of the demands placed on the body—both physically and psychologically—shapes her unique, integrative clinical style.

She has worked with a wide range of athletes and performers, serving as a freelance strength and conditioning coach for the British Olympic Association (BOA) across gymnastics, swimming, and judo, and training two of the original UK TV Gladiators (first series).

Jo is the creator of HODA-A (Hands-On Data Acquisition and Analysis)—a groundbreaking research paradigm that is revolutionizing how musculoskeletal healthcare professionals use their hands in both clinical practice and research. HODA-A unlocks new dimensions of precision, pattern recognition, and diagnostic intelligence—holding the keys to gold-standard hands-on care in a field ripe for evolution.

She is also the founder of the Back Pain Systems App, a multi-dimensional program that integrates neuroscience, movement therapy, nutrition, and coaching to support long-term healing from chronic pain, with an emphasis on self-empowerment and education.

As a global lecturer and mentor, Jo has trained clinicians across the UK and Europe in pain science, biomechanics, therapeutic movement, and clinical nutrition, while leading collaborative research into mitochondrial health, neuroplasticity, fatigue, trauma, and epigenetics.

Raad Khair, PT, PhD

Raad Khair holds a degree in Physiotherapy, a Master’s in Performance Analysis of Sport, and a PhD in Biomechanics, focusing on Achilles tendon biomechanics post-rupture. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, where he is actively involved in the ACHILLES project, unravelling the intricate structure-function relationship of the Achilles tendon.

Peter Halén: Sports physiotherapist cert. OMT

Clinical orientated sports physiotherapist with 46 years of clinical experience.

Started my manual therapy studies and orientation early 1980´s. Run the Finnish Orthopedic Manual Therapy association as the chairman the last decade of the previous millennium.

After been working five years in the South-East Asia 2005 – 2010 and when settled back to Finland was asked to start the chairmanship for the Finnish Sports Physiotherapy Association and held that position for 7 years.

Senior team sports physiotherapist for national swimming- and artistic gymnastic teams.

As a physiotherapist I consider myself as a pretty solid expert by experience, since my fulltime clinical work complimented with pretty extensive teaching carrier in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, manual therapy and sports physiotherapy has given me an extra ordinary solid foundation to work as clinical physiotherapist.

Nicolay Morland

Nicolay is a Manual Physical Therapist and Certified Sports Physiotherapist and a board member of the Norwegian Sports Physiotherapist Association. He has 15 years of experience with a range of different sports from Academy to professional level, most notably 9 years at SK Brann Bergen. He is researching lumbar bone stress injuries in adolescent football players. Currently working in private practice at Western Norway Center for Sports Medicine, seeing primarily sports injuries at all ages and levels, alongside research.

Aki-Matti Alanen
Aki-Matti is currently working as the Sports Development Manager at Sport Institute of Three Campuses in Finland. He has worked as a sport physiotherapist, educator and specialist in athlete development with youth and adult athletes in Finland for over 20 years. Aki-Matti completed his PhD in University of Calgary in 2023, where his research focused on using wearable technology with youth soccer players for injury prevention and performance evaluation. He has also background as a soccer and performance coach in Finland and Canada. Aki-Matti’s main interests in sport physiotherapy are related to supporting long-term development of athletes and smooth return to performance after injury.

Karen Kotila

Karen Kotila is a Specialist in Sports Physiotherapy with a passion for supporting athletes at all levels. Currently, she applies her expertise as a sports physiotherapist at the sports boarding school EvN, where she also will play a role in shaping the next generation of practitioners as a clinical counselor for bachelor students. Karen is actively involved in the advancement of her profession, serving as a board member of the Danish Society of Sport Physiotherapy and representing Denmark as an IFSPT delegate.

Lars Damsbo

Certified Clinician in Sports Physiotherapy. Chair of the Danish Society of Sports Physical Therapy. More than 20 years experience as a Sportsphysical Therapist working in an elite setting with footballers in the highest league in Denmark and at national level with youth footballers. Also experience from working at a hospital, diagnosing and making rehabilitation plans for Sportsinjuries at all ages and all levels. Lars is currently working part time at a private clinic and part time at a sports boarding school for the age group of 16-17 year olds.