ARI ORthopaedics 2026 welcomes you to Davos

Dear colleagues

Repair and regeneration of articular cartilage and intervertebral disc continue to pose significant clinical challenges, despite their well-characterized structure. These tissues are known for their limited intrinsic healing capacity; however, recent advances in both preclinical and clinical research are offering renewed hope. Innovations in targeting senescent cells, harnessing extracellular vesicles, mobilizing chondroprogenitors, designing advanced biomaterials, and understanding tissue crosstalk are paving the way for more precise and effective management of joint and spine disorders.

This year’s conference will spotlight these breakthroughs, showcasing how emerging strategies are bringing us closer than ever to transformative clinical applications. Topics will include cell-mediated repair, drug and gene delivery systems, and novel therapeutic approaches—each contributing to a deeper understanding of musculoskeletal regeneration and the critical need for stronger collaboration between scientists and clinicians. The ARI Orthopaedics Conferences (formerly eCM Conferences) have long served as a dynamic forum where researchers and practitioners converge to share challenges, insights, and solutions. Translating scientific discovery into clinical practice depends on this active exchange between those developing proof-of-concept and those delivering patient care.

To foster meaningful dialogue, the conference maintains a limited number of participants, ensuring ample opportunity for interaction among clinicians, biologists, engineers, and materials scientists. Our single-session format encourages in-depth, multidisciplinary discussion, while one afternoon is reserved for excursions into the mountains or informal networking—an opportunity to connect in the inspiring surroundings of Davos.

We are delighted to host the ARI Orthopaedics Conference Cartilage&Disc on 22-24 June 2026 and look forward to welcoming you to Davos for a stimulating and collaborative experience.

Yours sincerely,
Local Conference Organisers

Prof. Sibylle Grad Focus Area Leader, Disc and Cartilage Biology AO Research Institute Davos ARI Orthopaedics Conference Chair

Assoc. Prof. Zhen Li Principal Scientist Disc and Cartilage Biology AO Research Institute Davos ARI Orthopaedics Conference Chair

Prof. Martin Stoddart Vice Director AO Research Institute Davos Program Leader Regenerative Orthopaedics ARI Orthopaedics Conference Chair

eCM Conference Rebranding to ARI Orthopaedics

Since 1999 eCM organised yearly conferences in the preclinical orthopaedic research area in Davos. The conferences were organised by Scientists at the AO Research Institute Davos (ARI), a Not-for-Profit foundation in Switzerland. eCM conferences has been rebranded to ARI Orthopaedics, which are conferences where scientists (including biologists, engineers and material scientists), clinicians and industry meet. All ARI Orthopaedics abstracts are hosted on ARI Abstracts Together they bring clinical problems to the table, consider industrial requirements of possible solutions and often initiate collaborative projects to answer these clinical problems. The limited number of participants (max 200) ensures ample opportunities for knowledge sharing in basic, translational and clinical research.

eCM open access Scientific Journal

eCM Open Access Scientific Journal is changing publisher from AO Research Institute Davos (ARI), who published eCM from published eCM from Volume No 1 January, 2001 until Volume No 45, 2023, to Forum Multimedia Publishing, USA.
ARI has decided to focus stronger on the mission of the AO Foundation and discontinue publishing eCM journal. On behalf of ARI, we wish Forum Multimedia Publishing great success with continuation and development of eCM journal.
August 7th, 2023, Davos, Switzerland.
Prof. R. Geoff Richards (Founder, eCM Open Access Scientific Journal) and Prof Martin Stoddart (Editor-in-Chief, eCM Open Access Scientific Journal, Web Master ARI Orthopaedics Open Access Online Periodical)