Emmanuel Papacostas
Dr. Emmanuel Papakostas, a board – certified orthopaedic and sports medicine surgeon, has significantly impacted the field of athlete care. He earned his medical degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1993 and completed his Orthopaedic Specialization Diploma in 2004. After 16 years of private practice in Greece, he joined Aspetar Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha in 2020, where he serves as Clinical Lead of the Joint Preservation Center and Co-Director of the Sports Orthobiologics Laboratory.
As a former national-level athlete, Dr. Papakostas specializes in preventing and treating cartilage, meniscal, and ligament injuries in professional footballers and elite athletes. He has been the Head Team Physician for top football clubs, consulted for national federations, and supported medical services at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. His early research on ankle-ligament trauma earned him the FIMS Einjar Ericsson Young Investigator Award in 2002.
Over two decades, Dr. Papakostas has authored 38 peer-reviewed papers and 12 textbook chapters and delivered over 150 invited lectures across five continents. His contributions have established Aspetar as a leading center for joint preservation surgery. His commitment to the International Cartilage Regeneration & Joint Preservation Society (ICRS) spans over two decades, where he has been instrumental in its growth. He has served on various committees, including Publication, Fellowship, and Finance, and chaired two of them. Additionally, he has been elected to successive terms on the General Board.
As faculty, Dr. Papakostas has participated in World Congresses since 2008 and numerous regional meetings. He has conducted hands-on labs on osteotomies, meniscal repair, and orthobiologics. Notably, he conceived and organized a high-impact ICRS Focus Meeting on cartilage problems in sports and directed two Surgical Skills Courses in Doha, both of which were sold-out events with record delegate satisfaction scores.
Dr. Papakostas’s leadership has expanded the society’s educational reach and strengthened its collaborative links with leading sports-medicine institutions worldwide. He recently led the ICRS – FIFA – Aspetar Consensus on treating cartilage defects in football players. In addition to his contributions to the ICRS, he is an active member of ESSKA, ISAKOS, and several national societies. He serves on editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals, reviews grant proposals, and mentors emerging surgeons through international fellowship programs.
Fluent in Greek and English, Dr. Papakostas combines surgical excellence, evidence-based practice, and strategic vision to advance athlete joint preservation globally.