2022-2024:
Board of directors
Boyd R. Buser, DO (US)
Chair
WHO Benchmarks Task Force – Chair
Boyd R. Buser, D.O. served as the 120th President of the American Osteopathic Association. From 2007 until 2018, Dr. Buser was Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the University of Pikeville’s Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a graduate of Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, is dually board certified in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Family Medicine, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. He has taught extensively both nationally and internationally in the field of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. Dr. Buser is a past Chairman of the Board of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) and was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Osteopathic International Alliance. In 1995, Dr. Buser served as President of the American Academy of Osteopathy and was named Educator of the Year by the AOA and American Osteopathic Foundation in 1994.
Philippe Sterlingot, D.O. (France)
Chair-Elect
Having initially studied biology, Mr. Sterlingot graduated as an osteopath in 1996 from the Collège International d’Ostéopathie – CIDO Saint-Etienne. He has been running a private practice since 1996 and, in 2002, was elected Chair of the Syndicat Français Des Ostéopathes. In 2007 Phillipe obtained a Masters in Law, with a focus on health. As national representative of French Osteopaths, he has been closely involved throughout the process of osteopathic recognition and regulation in France which began in 2002. Philippe has been an International affiliated member of the American Academy of Osteopathy since 2003 and the Osteopathic Cranial Academy since 2011. He has been Vice-Chair of the Forum for Osteopathic Regulation in Europe (FORE), until its merger with the European Federation and Forum for Osteopathy (EFFO) in 2018. He is currently the chair of the Unité pour l’ostéopathie, a French umbrella organisation which brings together the Syndicat Français Des Ostéopathes, an association of students in osteopathy, an association of colleges of osteopathy, and one of osteopaths specialized in sports.
Ana Paula Antunes Ferreira, D.O. (BR)
Immediate Past Chair
Nominations Committee – Chair
Ana Paula A. Ferreira is an osteopath graduated from the Instituto Brasileiro de Osteopatia (IBO) and has been registered with the Registro Brasileiro dos Osteopatas (RBrO) since 2002. She has been working in private practice in Rio de Janeiro and as a teacher of osteopathic training since 2002. Ana Paula has developed numerous new subject curricula and reviewed many existing modules of the training program of IBO. She worked as a volunteer from 1998 to 2004 at the first public osteopathic outpatient clinic in Rio de Janeiro. Ana Paula is a former chair of the RBrO, which is leading the regulation process of osteopathy as a profession in Brazil, and has served on that board since 2007. She also served on the board of the IBO from 2009 to 2013. Ana Paula earned her Master’s Degree at UNISUAM RJ in 2015, earning a Ph.D. degree from the same program in 2020. She is part of the team developing palpatory research at Pedro Ernesto University Hospital/ UERJ in Rio de Janeiro. Ana Paula is an international affiliate member of the American Academy of Osteopathy.
Maurice Cheng (UK)
Treasurer
Allocated Seat – iO
Governance Committee – Chair
Maurice has a background in strategy development and marketing consultancy. Since 2000 he has specialised in professional association management, at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the Institute of Healthcare Management, the Institute of Payroll Professionals, and the Association of Costs Lawyers. In the regulatory sector he has acted as strategy consultant for the General Optical Council and the Bar Standards Board. Maurice was appointed Chief Executive of the Institute of Osteopathy in 2013, and also serves as Chief Executive of the European Federation and Forum for Osteopathy (EFFO), non executive trustee of North London YMCA, Chair of the UK’s National Council for Osteopathic Research (NCOR), and joined the Board of the Osteopathic International Alliance (OIA) in 2019.
Kendi Hensel, DO (US)
Allocated Seat – AOA
Kendi Hensel, DO, PhD, FAAO, is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Family and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and is double board certified in Family Medicine and Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine, and has been involved in clinical practice, osteopathic medical education, and clinical research for 18 years. She served as the 2019-2020 President of the American Academy of Osteopathy, the 2015-2019 chair of ECOP, and served 6 years as a Section Editor of the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. She is currently involved in national efforts to improve the evidence base and utilization of OMT in patient care. Her research interests center around mechanistic and clinical effectiveness studies of OMM.
Rebecca Giusti, DO (US)
At-Large Member
Conference Organizing Committee – Chair
WHO Glossary Task Force – Chair
Rebecca Giusti, DO is currently the chair and the OMS I course director of the NMM/OMM Department at COMP, Western University in Pomona, California. She is double boarded in family practice and NMM/OMM and has been certified as competent by the Osteopathic Cranial Academy. She is currently the Chair of ECOP, on the board of the AOBNMM and is on the Board of the Governors of the AAO. Dr. Giusti has co-authored several chapters in the 4th edition of the Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine textbook. She is passionate about fitness and preventative healthcare.
Laura Lee Calonius (Kamppila), D.O. (FI)
At-Large Member
Public & Member Relations Committee – Chair
Laura has an enthusiastic and positive attitude towards promoting, supporting and developing the position of the osteopathic profession in Finland and internationally. She has shown great leadership qualities in Finland and within the Nordic and European osteopathic community. She holds leading positions both in the Finnish association and in the company that she runs, and is known by her colleagues to be an encouraging team player. Laura is a graduate of the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki and the Women’s Health 2- year post-graduate programme of Molinari Institute of Health in London. She is about to finish her Master’s degree in Health Business Management at Metropolia in June 2020. Laura has participated in the working of the OIA through two different working groups over the last 1,5 years and is involved and very interested in the international politics of osteopathy. She works as a part of a co-operative clinic that she runs, which allows her to concentrate on the work she does for the Finnish Osteopathic Association. She has been a board member of the association since 2016 and the president of the association since 2018. She has done a lot of lobbying and promoting of osteopathy in Finland, and in her time of being president of the Finnish association, hugely contributed to improving the national regulatory framework. Since January 2020 she is a part-time member of the Metropolia UAS faculty of osteopathy. Laura has dual nationality (USA-Finland) and lived in Holland and Belgium for 16 years. Prior to studies in osteopathy, she worked six years with arts administration in Brussels and speaks Dutch, English, and French in addition to Finnish. As the president of the FOA Laura works closely with the principals of the osteopathic schools in Finland. She is the representative of Finland for the EFFO and works actively together with the other Nordic presidents from Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Denmark.
Dominique Silvestre, MD, D.O. (France)
At-Large Member
Dominique is a well-known French physician who has always been committed to the development of osteopathy and osteopathic medicine in France. The professional organization he belongs to established since years 2000 strong cooperation with French osteopaths. Dominique has also been involved in the creation of EROP with former OIA chair, Dr. Johannes Mayer. Dominique has been involved in Osteos de France organisation and board of directors for years. Osteos de France is the main physicians’ organization in France and consequently Dominique is familiar with associations management at every level. He has also been committed to physicians education to osteopathy and has taught osteopathy in different groups. He is currently practicing nearby Mulhouse.
Hanna Tómasdóttir, D.O. (DK)
At-Large Member
Membership Committee – Chair
Originally from Iceland, now resident in Denmark for almost 30 years, Hanna has a successful track record in building recognition of the osteopathic profession. In a pleasingly short period of time, osteopaths gained full regulation as a primary healthcare profession in Denmark in 2018, under Hanna’s leadership. She has been highly involved in regulation processes of the osteopathic profession in Europe, where she lead a Regulation Working Group which published the first overview of Regulation of the osteopathic profession in Europe, in 2021. Since the regulation in Denmark, Hanna has worked with the Danish Government on implementing the regulation of the osteopathic profession and participated in multiple working groups under the Danish national health authorities. She has also been involved in several multidisciplinary projects with other regulated healthcare professions, including a research project which resulted in the development of the first ‘National Clinical Guidelines for Non-Pharmacological Treatment of Headache’, and as co-author of three peer-reviewed articles. In close co-operation with other stakeholders, she has been working towards a Danish state financed and accredited fulltime osteopathy education, since 2019. Hanna was elected as a Board Member of Danske Osteopater in 2013, became Vice-President in 2014, and President in 2017. She was elected to the Board of the European Federation & Forum for Osteopaths (EFFO), which represents over 20 countries in Europe, in 2018, and then as EFFO President in 2020. Hanna speaks Icelandic, Danish and English, and is a co-owner of flourishing osteopathic clinics in Copenhagen, Q KLINIK, and also works as a health columnist for SØNDAG, the biggest weekly women’s magazine in Denmark.
Jan Willcox, DO (US)
At-Large Member
Dr. Willcox is the Dean and Professor of Family Medicine for the Virginia Campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM). She is board certified in Family Medicine and is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. She joined VCOM in 2002 as the founding Associate Dean of Clinical Academic Affairs and played an integral role in the development of VCOM’s curriculum and medical education programs. Since 2013 she has served as chair for American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s International Collaborative, which facilitates and provides structure for educational efforts occurring at colleges of osteopathic medicine around global health and international rotations. She also serves on the Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine of the American Osteopathic Association. Dr. Willcox has 20 years as practicing osteopathic physician in solo and group practice and 20 years of experience in higher education administration. Born and raised in Kirksville, Missouri, where the first school of osteopathy was founded in 1892, Dr. Willcox has a passion for osteopathy.