Welcome Letter

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

With great pleasure we welcome you to the 2026 Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress entitled “Waves of Innovation and Scientific Collaboration” on April 23-26, 2026 at, Palm Beach County Convention Center, Florida, USA. The annual OARSI Congress is the pre-eminent global forum for all those interested in cutting-edge osteoarthritis (OA) research from academia to the clinic and industry worldwide. 

The theme of this year “Waves of Innovation and Scientific Collaboration” highlights the dedication of the OARSI to advancing the science and treatment of osteoarthritis through innovation, collaboration, and rigorous, reproducible research. By fostering open dialogue and bringing together diverse disciplines, we aim to spark idea’s and cross-disciplinary collaboration. We envision the OARSI World Conference as a catalyst to start new waves of innovation, discovery, and collaboration. 

The OARSI is a platform to meet the diversity of osteoarthritis research: basic and clinical research scientists, rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons, radiologists, physiatrists, physical therapists, bioengineers, pain specialists and other healthcare professionals, regulators, and policymakers. As such it is the place to be for scientific collaboration, not only within scientific disciplines but also cross-disciplinary, from academia, clinicians, and industry. 

This diversity is reflected in the program, where we bring together the latest innovations from a wide range of disciplines within the osteoarthritis research, from genetics and genomics, molecular biology, biomechanics, imaging, to clinical interventions, and data science. We bring you the cutting-edge discoveries and aim to broaden and deepen your view of osteoarthritis research to foster new questions, unexpected connections, and meaningful advances.

Please join us for this exciting opportunity to connect to OARSI’s global network of health care professionals and scientists and industry, with common goals of preventing, managing, and curing the disease, improving the quality of lives of over 600 million osteoarthritis patients worldwide! 

We wish to thank all the OARSI staff, OARSI committees and volunteers, though collaboration and diversity we have been able to present an exciting and stimulating program for OARSI 2026. 

We look forward to meeting you in person and fostering research connections during OARSI 2026 in the Palm Beach County Convention Center, Florida, USA.

With warm regards, 

Martin Englund, MD, PhD
OARSI President

Cindy G. Boer, PhD
Congress Chair

Jessica Bertrand, PhD
Abstract Chair