Following a series of international symposia focused on the development of custom prostheses for arthroplasty, the International Society for the Study of Custom Prostheses (ISSCP) was formally established in 1990. In 1994, as the Society expanded its scope to encompass a broader range of interests, its name was changed to the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty (ISTA).
ISTA Board of Directors
Catherine Van Der Straeten, MD, PhD
Secretary General (2025)
Catherine Van Der Straeten, MD, PhD, FIOR
Prof. Dr. Van Der Straeten is the head of the Health Innovation and Research Institute of Ghent University Hospital and Clinical Professor at Ghent University. She is also the Medical Director of the Ghent University Hospital Biobank, Chair of the ScienSano (Belgian Federal Knowledge Centre for Health) General Board and Board of Directors. She is a rheumatologist by training and has coordinated and conducted orthopaedic surgery research for 30 years. Her work has focused on the research and development of hip and knee implants, and on bone and tissue regeneration and the clinical results and biostatistical analysis of these interventions. She also conducted several clinical trials on meniscus allograft transplantation, meniscus regeneration and artificial replacement and is involved in the development of a new tissue-engineered meniscus. She was a member of the Working Group on safety of metal implants at the SCENIHR of the European Commission and a member of the External Expert Advisory Board (EEAB) of EU Life Long Joints Project. She was the 2018 President of the International Society of Technology in Arthroplasty and organized the successful meeting in London.
Jeffery Taylor, MD
Chief Financial Officer (2023)
Jeffery K. Taylor, MD
Dr Taylor is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon specializing in adult reconstructive surgery who received his medical doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. He currently practices at the Sacramento Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California. Dr Taylor has more than 30 years of experience in medical device development in the areas of adult orthopedic reconstruction, spine surgery, surgical robotics, and trauma. He also served as founding director of Consensus Orthopedics, a company specializing in total joint replacement products. He was also a co-founder and Chief Science & Technology Officer of Dymicron in Utah which developed and promoted a new generation of orthopedic implant devices made from wear resistant polycrystalline diamond for applications in knee, hip and spine arthroplasty.
William Mihalko, MD PhD
President (2024)
William Mihalko, MD PhD
Dr Mihalko is the Professor & J.R. Hyde Chair of Excellence in the Campbell Clinic, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He serves as the program chair of the joint graduate program in Biomedical Engineering with the University of Memphis as well as the Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare System in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to his clinical practice, he runs a large implant retrieval lab in collaboration with Drexel, Cleveland Clinic and Clemson Universities. His other research interests include gait studies concerning hip and knee replacements and biomarkers of aseptic and total joint replacement failures. As a clinician-scientist, he has been actively involved in various regulatory committees including the ASTM International F04 committee on medical and surgical devices, and the AAOS Orthopaedic Device Forum. He is an elected member of both the Knee Society and the Hip Society. Dr Mihalko is currently a Board member of the ORS, AAHKS and is the ISTA BOD President as he is co-organizer of the 2024 meeting in Nashville.
Morteza Meftah, MD
Past President (2023)
Morteza Meftah, MD
Dr Meftah is an orthopedic surgeon specialized in complex primary and revision hip and knee replacement. He is currently an associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Chair of the Orthopedic Center for Innovation, and serves as the co-director of NYU Robotic Orthopedic Surgery division. His main clinical practice and research focus is on rapid postsurgical recovery, outpatient joint replacement surgery, opioid-sparing surgical pathways, periprosthetic fractures and infections, and robotic-assisted total joint replacement. Dr Meftah currently holds several patents and multiple instrument designs in the arthroplasty field. He is an entrepreneur and is founder and advisor on several start-ups. He is the outgoing president of International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty (New York 2023), and also a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society.
Hani Haider, PhD
Past President (2022)
Hani Haider, PhD
Hani Haider is a professor and the Director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center Orthopaedic Biomechanics and Advanced Surgical Technologies Laboratory. Dr Haider’s research interests include the development of methods for in-vitro testing of orthopaedic implants, and the development of innovative computer-aided surgical technologies including a novel freehand surgical navigation system for use in knee replacement surgery. He has been awarded nearly 100 research grants or contracts from different federal and industrial funding sources including 33 different orthopaedic companies from the USA, Europe and Japan. He has received 16 academic and international prizes and awards, and holds 5 invention patents. Dr Haider is a past President of ISTA and Co-Chair of its 2022 Annual Congress, Chair of the USA Technical Advisory Group and Head of the US delegation to the ISO TC 150 Committee (Implants for Surgery), Chair of ASTM International F04 Division II Committee (Orthopaedic Devices), and an active member of the ASTM F04 Executive Committee.
Philip Noble, PhD
Co-Chair 2024
Director of Scientific Review (2024)
Philip Noble, PhD
Dr Noble is a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at McGovern Medical School in Houston (University of Texas). He is also a Scientific Consultant in the Center for Orthopaedic Research, Innovation and Training (CORIT) at UTHealth. CORIT specializes in the development, evaluation and adoption of new technologies in Orthopedics. Since obtaining his doctorate under the mentorship of Professor John Paul, Dr Noble has spent almost 40 years in the field of orthopaedic biomechanics. His diverse research interests include the biomechanics of human and artificial joints, the morphometry of human bones, computer-assisted orthopedics and robotic surgery, and the quantitative assessment of clinical outcomes. He is an active member of several professional societies, including The Hip Society, The Knee Society, The International Hip Society, and The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. His work has been recognized by numerous prestigious awards. He is also an experienced inventor and holder of numerous patents and has participated in the development of hip and knee replacements that have been implanted in millions of patients worldwide.
Vani Sabesan, MD
At-Large Member (2023)
Vani J. Sabesan, MD
Dr Vani Sabesan is an associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery with a subspecialty in Sports Medicine and Shoulder/Elbow surgery. She is a future program director, and Associate Professor working at Atlantis Orthopaedics in Florida. She received her fellowship training in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery/Sports Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and held the Lang Family Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Research at Cleveland Clinic, Florida. Dr Sabesan is passionate about research and leadership in her Orthopaedic community. She has served on a number of regional, national, and international committees and boards, including the AAOS Board of Councilors and the American Orthopedic Association Emerging Leaders program. She has been on the academic residency program faculty for over 10 years. She has been awarded over 1million dollars in research funding and she lectures both nationally and internationally. Her areas of interest include pain management and opioid use associated with shoulder surgery. Dr Sabesan has received numerous honors including the Lang Family Chair in Orthopaedic Research, RJOS travelling fellowship, and the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. She recently served as the co-organizer of the ISTA Emerging Technology in Arthroplasty meeting.
A. Seth Greenwald, D Phil (Oxon)
At-Large Member (2023)
A. Seth Greenwald, D.Phil.(Oxon)
Dr A. Seth Greenwald is the Director of Orthopaedic Research Laboratories in Cleveland, Ohio. He is an internationally recognized bio-academician, thought leader and educator with more than five decades of experience as a productive researcher in areas of joint biomechanics and artificial implants. He is the Founder and now Emeritus Director of the prestigious Current Concepts in Joint Replacement® meetings. Dr Greenwald received his doctorate in orthopaedic and engineering sciences from Oxford University, England in 1970 and holds advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University. Dr Greenwald is an active member of many professional orthopaedic associations and has held numerous prominent appointments within public and private sectors. He has received many prestigious honors, notably, The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ Kappa Delta Award, The Presidential Medal of the British Orthopaedic Association, The SICOT Medal as well as The Lifetime Achievement Award of the ISTA. Over the span of his career, he has been a frequent contributor to the peer-reviewed literature in areas of biomechanics, device evaluation and cartilage degeneration as well as the regulation and introduction of medical devices.
Patricia Campbell, PhD
At-Large Member (2024)
Pat Campbell, PhD
Pat Campbell has a PhD in Medical Science and prior to retirement, was a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA and was the director of the Implant Retrieval lab at the Orthopaedic Institute for Children, (formerly known as Orthopaedic Hospital) in Los Angeles. She is a member of the Orthopaedic Research Society and the Hip Society and has received several prestigious awards for her research work over the past 30 years. Her areas of interest include the multiple factors that affect the clinical performance of total joint replacements, particularly the tissue reactions to metal-on- metal hip implants. She encourages the collection of joint replacement explants of all kinds along with their associated periprosthetic tissues to allow for the examination of well-performing, as well as failed devices.
Fares Haddad, MBBS MD (Res) MCh (Orth) FRCS (Orth) FFSEM
At-Large Member (2024)
Fares Haddad, MBBS MD (Res) MCh (Orth) FRCS (Orth) FFSEM
Seung-Beom Han, MD
At-Large Member (2024)
Seung-Beom Han, MD, PhD
Seung-Beom Han is an orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeon with 30 years of experience in the field. He is currently the Director of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Korea University Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea. He is also in charge of the Division of Adult Reconstruction of Hip and Knee Joints. He received his medical education from the College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul in 1991 and his Masters degree from the Orthopaedic Surgery department from the same institute in 2000. He has been a Professor since 2001 and in 2007 he spent time as a Visiting Scholar at the Rothman Institute Joint Research Lab in Thomas Jefferson University. His areas of special interest are computer assisted surgery and patient motion analysis using MMT sensors.
Petra Heesterbeek, PhD
At-Large Member (2024)
Petra Heesterbeek, PhD
Arun Mullaji, FRCSEd, MCh Orth, MS Orth
At-Large Member (2022)
Arun Mullaji, FRCS Ed, MCh Orth, MS Orth, D Orth, DNB Orth
Dr Mullaji is an orthopaedic surgeon with over 25 years of experience performing thousands of hip and knee arthroplasties in India. He presently is the Director of the Mullaji Knee Clinic and practices within several specialty hospitals in Mumbai, India. He was a founder member and past president of the Indian Society of Hip and Knee Surgeons and is a member of many national and international orthopaedic associations including an executive member of the Indian Joint Registry. In addition, Dr Mullaji has helped design total knee implants that have been used worldwide and has helped train hundreds of orthopaedic surgeons through a post-graduate fellowship programme. He was involved with the early application of an iPod to perform computer-assisted knee replacement and he also works in collaboration with IIT Nanotechnology Lab in Mumbai.
Ebru Oral, BSc, PhD.
At-Large Member (2024)
Ebru Oral, BSc, PhD
Yasushi Oshima, MD, PhD
At-Large Member (2024)
Yasushi Oshima, MD, PhD
David Schroeder
At-Large Member (2024)
David Schroeder
Dave Schroeder has a degree in Materials Engineering and an MBA. He has been involved in research for orthopedics since 1992 when he joined Biomet, Inc and has held increasing levels of responsibility both at Biomet and at Zimmer Biomet following the acquisition of Biomet by Zimmer in 2015. His current role is Vice President – Research and EU Development at the Zimmer Biomet EMEA Headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. Dave’s early career focused on research and development of bearing surfaces, including the use of vitamin E in highly crosslinked UHMWPE for arthroplasty. Dave’s current interests include anti-infective technologies, additive manufacturing, personalized joint arthroplasty, robotics, augmented/mixed reality, sensors, and predictive analytics.
Nobuhiko Sugano, MD, PhD
At-Large Member (2025)
Nobuhiko Sugano, MD, PhD
Nobuhiko Sugano is currently a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Medical Engineering in Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine and the Chief of Hip Reconstruction at Osaka University Hospital. He received his medical degree in 1985 from Osaka University Medical School in Japan. In 1995 he was invited to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA where he actively worked on three dimensional morphologic analysis of hip joints as an assistant Professor with Prof Philip C Noble. He developed a CT-based navigation system with his computer scientist colleagues at Osaka University, and its clinical trial started in 1998.The results of this research were employed in the design of hip joint implants for Japanese patients. Dr Sugano has received international recognition for his research including the Otto-AuFranc Award from the Hip Society, and the Maurice E. Müller Award for Excellence in Computer Assisted Surgery. HIs ongoing interest in computer aided orthopaedics led him to play the role of leading orthopaedic surgeon in this growing area of hip and knee arthroplasty.
Markus Wimmer Dr. -Ing. (ME, PhD)
At-Large Member (2024)
Markus Wimmer Dr.-Ing. (ME, PhD)
Professor Wimmer is currently the Grainger Director of the Rush Arthritis and Orthopedics Institute,
Director of the Rush Tribology and Human Motion laboratories and Professor and Associate Chairman
for Research at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He
holds co-joint professorships in the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and in the Division of
Rheumatology, as well as an adjunct professorship in Bioengineering at UIC. He gained his PhD at the
Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Germany. His thesis focused on the wear of the polyethylene
component in artificial knee joints. His subsequent research has expanded into the kinematics of gait
and the wear and corrosion processes of other bearings including metal-on-metal. He is a member of many biomaterial and orthopaedic research societies and has been an active participant in the implant section of the ORS. His research in biotribology and tribocorrosion has been recognized with numerous awards including the HAP Paul award from ISTA. In 1995 he was invited to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA where he actively worked on three dimensional morphologic analysis of hip joints as an assistant Professor with Prof Philip C Noble. He developed a CT-based navigation system with his computer scientist colleagues at Osaka University, and its clinical trial started in 1998.The results of this research were employed in the design of hip joint implants for Japanese patients. Dr Sugano has received international recognition for his research including the Otto-AuFranc Award from the Hip Society, and the Maurice E. Müller Award for Excellence in Computer Assisted Surgery. HIs ongoing interest in computer aided orthopaedics led him to play the role of leading orthopaedic surgeon in this growing area of hip and knee arthroplasty.