Stephan Perren AO Trauma Research Traveling Fellowship
The Stephan Perren AO Trauma Research Traveling Fellowship is intended for AO Trauma members residing in Europe and Southern Africa or the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Each year, five early-career clinicians are selected for a four-week research experience at leading European centers.
Fellows spend two weeks at the AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) and two weeks at a partner research center, gaining hands-on experience, expert feedback, and valuable international connections to strengthen their future research careers.
The call for applications for the 2027 Stephan Perren AO Trauma Research Traveling Fellowship is now closed.
The 2028 call for applications is expected to open between April and September 2027.
Stay informed about the 2028 open call:
Research centres
Each host institution actively contributes to trauma and musculoskeletal research through a variety of experimental, clinical, and biomechanical approaches.
Fellowship periods and host centers
The exact dates for the fellowship periods will be announced between April and June 2027.
Note: Applicants may indicate their preferred host research centre for the fall visit. Final placements are subject to availability.
Spring visit
Fall visit
- Julius Wolff Institute for Biomechanics and Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Berlin Institute of Health and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- University Hospital Zurich, Department of Traumatology, Zurich, Switzerland USZ
- University of Leeds, Orthopaedics and Trauma Sciences, Leeds, United Kingdom
Stipend and financial support
The fellowship provides a grant to support travel and lodging costs for the four-week program:
- CHF 4,000 for candidates from Europe and Southern Africa
- CHF 5,000 for candidates from the Middle East and Northern Africa (reflecting higher travel costs)
Please note: The stipend is intended as a contribution towards travel, accommodation, and meal expenses; it may not fully cover all costs. Fellows are responsible for arranging their own accommodation and insurance.
Who can apply?
Applicants must:
- Be qualified surgeons or surgeons in training, specializing in trauma, orthopaedics, or related surgical fields.
- Be 45 years of age or younger
- Hold active AO membership and reside in the AO Trauma Europe and Southern Africa (ESA) or Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region.
- Have previous experience in trauma research, demonstrated through authorship of a clinical or basic research publication, participation in a trauma-related research project, or hands-on experience in clinical or basic research.
- Have completed both the AO Trauma Basic Principles and Advanced Principles courses.
Application documents
To apply, please prepare the following documents:
- Curriculum Vitae, including your clinical career, research experience, relevant projects, and publications to date, listed in APA format with DOI where available
- Certificates from the AO Trauma Basic and Advanced Principles courses
- Medical school diploma
- Recommendation letter from your Head of Department
- Personal letter of application, including your motivation, initiative, career goals, and preferred career path in trauma care
- Optional short translational research proposal to be refined during the fellowship and discussed with the ARI research team
Processes
Selection process
The regional trauma research committees lead the selection process and conduct a thorough peer review of all applications.
Post-fellowship reporting
Following the fellowship, each participant is required to complete a post-fellowship survey summarizing their experience and key insights.
Contact
For questions or assistance, please contact perren.fellowship@aofoundation.org
Call for applications for 2028
Application deadline to be announced.
Research Focus Areas at Participating Centres
- Biomechanics: Bone-implant construct stability testing with anatomical specimens and computer simulations
- Fracture Healing: Optimization, monitoring and prediction of bone healing with new implant concepts, implantable sensors, diagnostic and prognostic healing simulations
- Surgical Education: Development of innovative tools for digitally enhanced training and assessment of surgical knowledge and skills
- Bone Formation: In vivo and in vitro mechanobiology of bone healing with bioreactors and animal models using spatial transcriptomics and predictive biomarker towards personalized treatment
- Cartilage and IVD regeneration: Novel cell-based and biomaterial-based therapeutic strategies investigated in organ models with multiaxial bioreactors
- Biomaterials: Scaffolds and gels for promotion of tissue regeneration and infection prevention, novel contactless biofabrication technologies with sound guided tissue regeneration
- Anti-infection: Preclinical models for pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal
- Biomechanics: Studying fracture morphology, treatment comparisons, and implant biomechanics.
- Fracture Healing: Investigating critical size defects in animal models, responses to long bone injuries, and effects of stabilization methods.
- Bone Formation: Examining mesenchymal stem cells' capacity for bone formation and their differentiation under external influences.
- Clinical Studies: Conducting big data analysis, clinical trials, and motion analysis.
- Bone Regeneration: Lab techniques for mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) isolation and manipulation, scaffold development, and clinical exposure to bone repair methods.
- Biomechanics: Gait analysis protocols, laboratory exposure to biomechanical testing, and approaches to analyzing gait patterns.
- Clinical Trials: Methodologies for trial setup, patient recruitment, and ethical approval processes.
- Immuno-inflammatory Response: Research on the pathogenesis of organ failure, molecular mediators, and quantification using ELISA kits.
- Biomechanics and Biophysics: Investigating joint loading, musculoskeletal analysis, spine biomechanics, and trauma fixation.
- Musculoskeletal Regeneration: Studying cell biology, molecular traumatology, bone healing, and advanced therapies.
- Facilities include various gait labs, biomechanical testing labs, and instrumentation for clinical trials and implant analysis.
Selected candidates for the S Perren Fellowships
| Family Name | First Name | Region | Country |
Engelmann | Esmee | AO TESA | Netherlands |
Jacobsen | Mads Emil | AO TESA | Denmark |
Gálvez Márquez | Gonzalo | AO TESA | Spain |
Traigy | Shareef | AO TMENA | Egypt |
Saad Thabet | Mahmoud Mohammad | AO TMENA | Egypt |
| Family Name | First Name | Region | Country |
Kougioumtzis | Ioannis | AO TESA | Greece |
Kurokawa | Takayuki | AO TESA | Hungary |
Saracco | Michela | AO TESA | Italy |
Elsheikh | Ahmed Abdelwahab Elsayed Mohamed | AO TMENA | Egypt |
Khan | Sumaiya | AO TMENA | Pakistan |
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