Ethics and Governance Committee The Ethics and Governance Committee ensures that all OARSI activities meet the highest ethical standards of the Society. They review disclosures from the board, board nominees, committee and initiative participants and makes recommendations to the board and enforces the OARSI Code of Ethics. The Ethics committee will also be responsible for reviewing OARSI’s governance policies (bylaws, committee mandates) and make recommendations to the board.
Strategic Alliances The Strategic Alliance Committee will identify societies, foundations, groups and industry partners that have an interest in OA and related research and establish mutually beneficial interactions. The goal is to raise awareness and educate groups about osteoarthritis. Interactions may include formal partnerships, joint meetings and workshops. This committee will also be responsible to review requests for initiatives and projects that come to OARSI.
Communications The goal of the communications committee is to improve OARSI visibility through communication vehicles including the website, newsletter and social media. The committee will focus on improving the website and social media presence and review selected articles for the bi-monthly newsletter.
Research and Training The Research and Training committee establishes scholarship criteria, reviews applications and selects scholarship winners. The committee will review existing OARSI research tools on the website and recommend updates, review OA research gaps and future directions for OA position papers.
Publications The Publications Committee oversees the editorial office of OARSI and the relationship with the publisher of the journals. This committee evaluates the publisher and negotiates new or renewal publisher and editor contracts, provides advice to the editors and discusses issues related to the journals.
Finance The role of this committee is to advise the board on actions needed to maintain OARSI's solvency. The committee works closely with the OARSI Treasurer and Industry relations staff member to identify approaches to new sources of funding and sponsorship, assess how to monetize OARSI activities.
Early Career Investigator An Early Career Investigator must be either enrolled in an undergraduate/graduate program (or equivalent education program) or must have attained their terminal degree (e.g., PhD or equivalent) less than ten years ago. Exceptions are made for leave related to career disruptions (e.g., parental or sick leave) or full-time clinical work. The individual must not hold an Associate/Full Professor (or equivalent; tenured) position. The goal of the committee is to increase student and young investigator interest and participation in OARSI in order to foster new and strengthen existing research efforts, collaborations and mentorship opportunities in both clinical and basic science studies of osteoarthritis. The committee plans workshops and mentorship sessions at the OARSI World Congress and maintains YI Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Asian Alliances (formerly Asian Task Force) The goal of the Asian Alliances Committee is to establish collaborations with local societies to plan scientific and educational programming in Asia. The committee will also develop an OARSI slide deck and translate the guidelines and white paper to various Asian languages.
Congress Program The Program Committee plans the annual OARSI Congress. They select the abstract categories, session topics, speakers and review the pre-Congress workshops. They also review and score abstracts.
Outreach/Membership - To retain and increase a strong global interactive OARSI membership, to enrich the value of membership, and to increase member involvement, engagement and communication.
Board of Directors - As OARSI continues to evolve and grow, the Board requires high caliber members whose backgrounds, skills and experience match the OARSI mission and its current and future needs. Service on the OARSI board demands a considerable commitment of time and talent to advance the goals and objectives of the organization. The Nominating Committee reviews all applications for Board positions and makes a recommendation to the Board. The nominating committee seeks to maintain gender, geographical and specialty balance. The term of office is 4 years.
Engagement Committee The Engagement Committee will curate the OARSI Live webinar series and explore all methods of engaging OARSI Members, with a particular focus on virtual activities.