EUSSER - European Society for Shoulder and Elbow Rehabilitation

Ann Cools, PT, PhD, works at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy at the Ghent University in Belgium. She specialized in sport specific shoulder rehabilitation, and finished her PhD project in 2003 entitled "Scapulothoracic muscle recruitment in overhead athletes".

Since 1998, she has a teaching and research assignment at the Ghent University, in basic education as well as advanced courses. At present, she is head of the Physical Therapy Education of the Ghent University. Her topic of research and teaching expertise, as well as her clinical work is shoulder rehabilitation, sport specific approach and scapular involvement in particular. She has published several papers in international and national journals, gives courses on a national and international level, has written a book and made a DVD on clinical examination of the shoulder and exercise therapy for shoulder pathology.

Anju is currently a clinical physiotherapy specialist at the shoulder & elbow unit, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, UK. Since 1998 she has been working closely with Mr. Ian Bayley & Mr. Simon Lambert, Orthopaedic Consultants specialising in the shoulder & elbow. The unit is well known both nationally & internationally for their work in complex shoulder instability and complex arthroplasty.

She has gained expert knowledge within the field of shoulder management in particular the management of muscle patterning instability. She has presented both nationally & internationally and has recently published a pilot study looking at the sensitivity & specificity of surface electromyography in diagnosing abnormal muscle patterns in shoulder instability. She is continuing research in this field towards a better understanding of muscle activation in shoulder instability. She represents the allied health professionals on the education committee for the British Elbow & Shoulder Society (BESS).

Shared role amongst board.

Consultant for Shoulder Rehab at the Rehabilitation unit of the Humanitas Hospital Milano.

Marco completed his medical degree from Milan University in 1991 and went on to complete his PhD in Human Physiology in 1996.

He has been a specialist in sports medicine since 1997 and since then has worked closely with Dr Alessandro Castagna, internationally recognised shoulder surgeon. Marco's main interests are in shoulder evaluation, arthroscopic surgery and rehabilitation.

He has completed training in shoulder arthroscopy and rehabilitation at the Southern California Orthopaedic Institute (SCOI) with SJS Snyder from 1997-1999 and at the Orange County Orthopaedic Speciality institute with B Rubin in 2002.

Head of the Shoulder Clinic, Orthopaedic department, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.

Completed his theses on clavicular fractures with a 10-year follow up. Two fracture types could be prognosed for sequelae. Neer Award 2002.

Has been working as a shoulder surgeon for the past 25 years.  Invited speaker nationally and internationally. Was at the starting meeting in Paris for SECEC in 1987. Initiator to EUSSER -European Society of Elbow and Shoulder Rehabilitation. Have a special interest in rehabilitation of the shoulder, as it is one of the most important factors that optimize the surgical result.

Started 15 years ago in Sweden, a concept called Axelina, which facilitates the diagnoses and treatment of the shoulder; treatment algorithms, rehabilitation programs pre- and postop, standardized tools and much more to optimize the time to get to a diagnosis and start treatment. It also defines the teamwork around the patient.

Olivier Gagey, MD PhD, head of the orthopaedic Dept, University Hospital of Bicêtre (France).

Jo Gibson is a Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist based at the Liverpool Upper Limb Unit at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and is also a Partner in private practice. She lectures nationally and internationally on assessment and rehabilitation of the shoulder complex and has published in peer reviewed journals and written several book chapters.

Her special interests are shoulder instability, accelerated rehabilitation and developments in pain science. Jo is co-author of the GOST booklet, “A Guide for Orthopaedic Surgeons and Therapists”, detailing guidelines for operative and postoperative management of Upper Limp Patients. Jo was elected Allied Health Professions representative for the British Elbow & Shoulder Society (BESS) in 2006 and has recently been invited to be a member of the European Society of Shoulder & Elbow Rehabilitation (EUSSER) Education Committee.
Jo worked as Squad Physiotherapist for the GP Endurance Riding Team for six years and works on a consultancy basis with several elite sports teams regarding should rehabilitation.