Incoming President: Dror Ovadia, Israel

Dr. Dror Ovadia, M.D. is a distinguished paediatric orthopaedic surgeon who has served as Director of the Paediatric Orthopaedic Department at the Dana-Dwek Children’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical Center since 2014.

After graduating from the Ben-Gurion University Faculty of Medicine in 1992, Dr. Ovadia completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. He then pursued a fellowship in Paediatric Spine Surgery at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Paris, training under Prof. Dubousset and Prof. Zeller. Upon returning to Tel Aviv, he joined the Paediatric Orthopaedic Department under Prof. Shlomo Wientroub, where he later became Director of the Paediatric Spine Deformity Service.

Dr. Ovadia specialises in treating a wide range of paediatric spinal deformities, including idiopathic scoliosis, early-onset scoliosis, neuromuscular, syndromic, and congenital conditions. His expertise also extends to the treatment of Sprengel’s deformity and paediatric trauma. Over the course of his career, he has contributed significantly to the field, publishing more than 45 peer-reviewed articles.

An active member of the international orthopaedic community, Dr. Ovadia has been involved in numerous professional organisations, including the Israeli Orthopaedic Association (IOA), the Israeli Spine Society (ISS), the Israeli Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (IPOS), the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS), the International Paediatric Orthopaedic Think Tank (IPOTT), and the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS). In addition to his clinical and research work, he serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals, including the Journal of Children’s Orthopaedics, the Journal of Paediatric Orthopaedics, and the European Spine Journal.

Dr. Ovadia has been an active EPOS member since 2004, holding several leadership roles within the organisation. He has served as Board Councillor and Treasurer and is now part of the Presidential Line. He has twice been a member of the Reading Committee, is actively involved in the EPOS Spine Study Group, and has contributed as a faculty member in numerous BAT courses and RCCs. In 2019, he played a key role as the local host of the EPOS Annual Meeting in Tel Aviv.

Beyond his professional commitments, Dr. Ovadia has been married to Hadas since 1985. Together, they have three children—Gal, Adi, and Roi—and two grandchildren, Kedem and Gaya, with hopefully more to come.