THE ISSLS CLINICAL TRAVELLING FELLOWSHIP – SPONSORED BY NIPPON ZOKI

International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine | Fellowships and Awards | The ISSLS Clinical Travelling Fellowship – sponsored by Nippon Zoki

The ISSLS Clinical Travelling Fellowship, sponsored by Nippon Zoki, carries prize money of US$5,000 towards travel and accommodation costs.  It is open to junior faculty members (in practice for fewer than 10 years) from any country or part of the world. It is judged by the ISSLS Fellowship Committee, who review each application and make a decision, which is based on merit and qualifications, with an emphasis on scholarly activities and clinical experience. The winner is announced during the Fellowship Ceremony at the ISSLS Annual Meeting.

Judged by the Fellowship Committee:

  • Nam Vo (Chair)

  • Gen Inoue

  • Raphaël Vialle

  • Yong Hai (ISSLS President)

  • Daisuke Sakai (ISSLS Secretary)

  • Dino Samartzis (ISSLS Secretary Elect)

Applications Open for the 2026 Fellowship on 15th October.

Application criteria   

Please provide the following:

  • Curriculum vitae

  • Two letters of reference from active ISSLS members

  • Invitation letter from the ISSLS member you wish to visit during your fellowship – duration of fellowship: one to four weeks

  • Description of the reasons for seeking the fellowship that includes:

    1. The candidate’s background, training, practice type and hospital appointment(s)

    2. Identified goals of the fellowship and post-fellowship plans.

Following completion of Fellowship

The recipient must prepare a report for submission to the ISSLS Fellowship Committee and attend the ISSLS Annual Meeting in the following year to present their report at the Fellowship Ceremony.

Send completed application documents to the ISSLS Secretariat:  ISSLS@asnevents.net.au.

2025 CLINICAL TRAVELLING FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT: PATAWUT BOVONRATWET   

The ISSLS Fellowship Committee is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2025 Clinical Travelling Fellowship (sponsored by Nippon Zoki) is Dr Patawut Bovonratwet, from Massachusetts General Hospital & Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA.

Dr Bovonratwet will visit Dr. Junseok Bae and Dr. Sang-Ho Lee at Wooridul Spine Hospital in Seoul, Korea to undertake his Fellowship

Congratulations.

Previous Fellowship winners

  • 2024 - Dennis Hey, Singapore visiting Richard Guyer and Scott Blumenthal, Texas Back Institute, USA. Read the report

  • 2023 - Hong-Jae Lee, South Korea visiting James D. Kang, Boston USA. Read the report

  • 2020 – Peng Yin, Department of Orthopaedics, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, China, visiting Richard Guyer, Texas Back Institute, Plano, USA (The 2020 ISSLS Clinical Travelling Fellowship was awarded to Dr Peng Yin from the Department of Orthopaedics, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, China. He will visit Dr Richard Guyer at the Texas Back Institute in Plano, Texas, USA. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions, Dr Yin will complete his fellowship when international travel is again possible.)

  • 2019 – Shashidhar Bangalore Kantharajanna, Bangalore, India, visiting Christoph Siepe, Munich, Germany Read the report

  • 2018 – Xiao-Long Chen, Beijing, China visiting Ashish Diwan, Sydney Australia Read the report

  • 2017 – Gianluca Vadalà, Italy, visiting Daisuke Sakai, Japan Read the report