February Featured Editorial Board Members

Per Renström, MD, PhD
Professor emeritus
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery
Centre for Sports Trauma Research and Education, Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm, Sweden

Per Anders Frans Hjalmar Renström received his certificate as medical doctor at Göteborg University in Sweden in 1972. He finished his residency in orthopedic surgery in 1977 and defended his PhD thesis in 1981 with a book on below-knee amputees. Up to 1988, Per worked at the department of orthopedics at Sahlgren University Hospital in Göteborg, Sweden. In 1988, Per and his family relocated to the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, USA, where Per worked as full professor in orthopedics and sports medicine up to 2007 before returning as to Sweden where he worked as a professor of Orthopedic sports medicine at the Karolinska Institutet, as well as head of sports medicine at the department of orthopedics at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. Per has been a professor emeritus at the Karolinska Institutet since January 2007.

Per has been very active in research in orthopedic sports medicine including clinical studies on management, surgery, rehabilitation and prevention of injuries occurring in sports and physical activity, basic research in biomechanics of knee and ankle ligaments and the healing of Achilles tendon injury, as well as research in amputation and prosthetics. Per has authored over 300 full scientific publications, including 190 original scientific publications in peer reviewed journals. Per is the author or editor of 18 books and 74 full chapters in books and proceedings. The book “Injuries in Sport,” co-authored with Lars Peterson, is a worldwide bestseller that has been translated into 12 languages. The fourth edition came out in January 2017. In 2018, it was also published in Chinese.

In 1994, as part of the Vermont research group, Per received the Kappa Delta Award for outstanding orthopedic research by American Academy Orthopedic Surgeons and Orthopedic Research Society. The same group has twice (1993 and 1997) been awarded the Albert Trillat Young Investigators Award by ISAKOS — International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopedic Sports Medicine. Per has twice (1996 and 1999) received the O’Donoghue Research Award from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM). In 2005, Per received the SCIF prize for “Outstanding research in Sports Science” in Sweden.

Per was appointed in 2000 (and reappointed in 2003 and 2006) as chairperson of the Swedish National Research Council of Sports Science by the Swedish Government. Per has been the chairperson for Special Olympics Sweden 1999-2007, and has been active in several other sports organizations. Per was vice president of FIMS, the International Sports Medicine Federation, from 1990-1998. Per was president of ISAKOS – the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopedic Sports Medicine from 2003-2005, after being secretary from 1977-1979, and vice president from 1999-2003. Per served as a member of the Medical and Scientific Commission of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) from 1989-2012. Per was for a long time the IOC person responsible for the medical service of the athletes during the Olympic Games. Per was also a member of the IOC Publication Advisory Subcommission (1989-2003).

Per served as the physician for the Swedish Davis Cup team in tennis for several years and retired in 2003. Per is the founder, vice president (1992-2008) and president (1998-2002) of the International Society of Medicine and Science in Tennis (STMS). Per is a member of medical services committee of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professional) World Tour – with responsibility for the medical service for the men’s tennis professional tour around the world since 1998. Per has been a member of the medical and scientific commission of the ITF, International Tennis Federation, since the same time. Per was the head physician for the Swedish Football / Soccer Association from 2008- 2017. In 1988, Per received the Gold Medal (highest honor) by the Swedish University Sports Association. In 1999, Per received FIMS’ Gold Medal, which is the highest honor given by FIMS. Per was elected as an honorary member by ISAKOS in 2009, AANA in 2003, and the Swedish Society of Sports Medicine in 1992. In 2007, Per was honored with the Hungarian National Society of Sports Medicine’s highest award.

In 2008, Per was awarded an honorary fellowship by the faculty of sports and exercise medicine at both the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In July 2009, Per was inducted in the International Hall of Fame by AOSSM. In October 2010, Per received the “Duke of Edinburgh Prize” awarded by the Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (UK), which is the most prestigious sports medicine award in the United Kingdom. Per was awarded an honorary fellowship by the faculty of sports and exercise medicine at the Royal College of Physicians, UK, in 2011. In 2013, Per was given the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President’s award in gold for 25 years of contributions to the olympic movement. Per was awarded the gold medal in sport by the Swedish Sports Confederation in 2017. This is considered the most prestigious award given out in Swedish Sport.

Selected Published Work

Timpka T, Alonso JM, Jacobsson J, Junge A, Branco P, Clarsen B, Kowalski J, Mountjoy M, Nilsson S, Pluim B, Renström P, Rønsen O, Steffen K, Edouard P.   Injury and illness definitions and data collection procedures for use in epidemiological studies in Athletics (track and field): consensus statement.   Br J Sports Med. Apr;48(7):483-90. 2014

Ellenbecker TS, Nirschl R, Renstrom P. Current concepts in examination and treatment of elbow tendon injury. Sports Health. Mar;5(2):186-94. 2013

Jacobsson J, Timpka T, Kowalski J, Nilsson S, Ekberg J, Dahlström O, Renström PA   Injury patterns in Swedish elite athletics: annual incidence, injury types and risk factors. Br J Sports Med. Br J Sports Med. Oct;47(15):941-52. 2013

Renström PA. Eight clinical conundrums relating to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in sport: recent evidence and a personal reflection. Br J Sports Med. Apr;47(6):367-722, 2013

Abrams GD, Renstrom PA, Safran MR Epidemiology of musculoskeletal injury in the tennis player. Br J Sports Med. Jun;46(7):492-8. 2012

Bring DK, Paulson K, Renstrom P, Salo P, Hart DA, Ackermann PW. Residual substance P levels after capsaicin treatment correlate with tendon repair. Wound Repair Regen. Jan;20(1):50-60, 2012

Hjelm N, Werner S, Renstrom P. Injury risk factors in junior tennis players: a prospective     2- year study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. Feb;22(1):40-8. 2012

Engebretsen L, Steffen K, Alonso JM, Aubry M, Dvorak J, Junge A, Meeuwisse W, Mountjoy M, Renström P, Wilkinson M. Sports injuries and illnesses during the Winter Olympic Games 2010. Br J Sports Med. Sep;44(11):772-80, 2010

Renstrom P, Ljungqvist A, Arendt E, Beynnon B, Fukubayashi T, Garrett W, Georgoulis T, Hewett TE, Johnson R, Krosshaug T, Mandelbaum B, Micheli L, Myklebust G, Roos E, Roos H, Schamasch P, Shultz S, Werner S, Wojtys E, Engebretsen L. Non-contact ACL injuries in female athletes: an International Olympic Committee current concepts statement.Br J Sports Med. Jun;42(6):394-412, 2008

Beynnon B, Johnson R, Fleming B, Stankewich C, Renström P, Nichols C: The Strain Behavior of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament During Squatting and Active Flexion-Extension: A Comparison of Open and Closed Kinetic Chain Exercises. Winner of the 1996 AOSSM O’Donoghue Sports Injury Research Award. Amer J Sports Med, 25(6):823-829, 1997