SINPAIN at ARI Orthopaedics 2026 Cartilage and Disc

The AO Research Institute (ARI) successfully organized and hosted the ARI Orthopaedics Meeting 2026, focusing on cartilage and disc research on 22 – 24 June 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.

Researchers from the SINPAIN project were actively involved in the scientific programme, contributing significantly to the dissemination of osteoarthritis (OA) research across various formats:

• Zhen Li from ARI delivered a keynote presentation on advancing OA therapy, focusing on in vitro and ex vivo modelling in bioreactor platforms.
• Huan Meng from ARI presented recent findings on pericellular matrix restoration and its role in enhancing chondrocyte resistance to inflammatory and mechanical stress.
• Federica Ciliberti from Reykjavik University gave a data-driven talk on objective imaging biomarkers for knee OA cartilage degeneration.
• Two posters focusing on advancements in SINPAIN were presented: Rafaela Zani Coeti from Saarland University showed a poster focusing on preclinical models of OA, an Ida Maruotto from Reykjavik University showcased results on the digital analysis and machine learning of OA imaging.

In addition, Daniela Vasconcelos and Meriem Lamghari from I3S successfully submitted an abstract to the conference, though unfortunately, their physical attendance was hindered by cancelled flights.

The SINPAIN project received increased visibility and targeted exposure during a specifically assigned segment of the conference. Session 9: EU Consortiums - SinPain, OstaSkills, and NetwOArk provided an excellent platform to highlight the collaborative efforts and current progress of our consortium to a broad audience of leading orthopaedic researchers.

Beyond the formal presentations, the meeting provided an invaluable environment for networking. The scheduled coffee breaks and the official congress dinner fostered interactive communication and knowledge exchange between Principal Investigators and students, both within and outside the SINPAIN consortium.

The event was highly attended, bringing together over 150 participants from across Europe to discuss the latest advancements in the field. The comprehensive scientific programme featured 19 keynote speakers and 22 oral presentations, as well as 73 posters.