Isokinetic Medical Group

History

Isokinetic Medical Group was founded in August 1987 in Bologna, Italy, by Stefano Della Villa and other colleagues. The company took its name from the isokinetic machine, a device used to measure dynamic muscle strength, which Della Villa had studied during a sports medicine fellowship with Richard Eagleston and Michael Dillingham at Stanford University. In 1990, the first clinic moved to Casteldebole, near the training grounds of Bologna FC. Early on, the centre managed rehabilitation for professional athletes, including Italian footballer Eraldo Pecci, who returned to play 11 days after a meniscus operation in 1988.

The organization held its first International Congress of Sport Rehabilitation and Traumatology in 1992, which later became an annual global conference on football medicine. The Isokinetic Education and Research Department was established in 2000, co-founded with physiologist Giulio Sergio Roi. During the 2000s, the group published peer-reviewed research on biomechanics, non-contact injury mechanisms, and ACL rehabilitation. Between 2001 and 2008, clinics opened in Milan, Turin, Verona, Rome, and Rimini.

The network treated elite athletes such as Roberto Baggio, Alberto Tomba, Gianluigi Buffon, Luca Toni, and Filippo Inzaghi. In 2009, Isokinetic became the first Italian FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence. International expansion began with a London clinic on Harley Street in 2012, and the group later treated basketball players including Danilo Gallinari, Marco Belinelli, and Miloš Teodosić.

Corporate affairs

Isokinetic Medical Group is a private holding company structured as Isokinetic Medical Group S.r.l., which wholly controls its regional subsidiaries and clinics. By the end of 2024, the firm had posted consolidated revenue of €24.9 million.

Its direct staff included 160 employees and 47 contracted clinical collaborators. That year, the group released its first Sustainability Report, detailing governance, energy use, and workforce diversity. Across its clinics, more than 16,000 patients of all ages received treatment in 2024.