Los Angeles Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Reza Jazayeri Presents Advanced ACL Surgery and Return-to-Sport Strategies at Cedars-Sinai Soccer Medicine Conference Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Double board-certified orthopedic surgeon Dr. Reza Jazayeri presented "Blueprint for Optimizing Surgical Success" during the knee session at Soccer Medicine Updates and New Innovations: World Cup 2026 in Carson, California. His talk focused on optimizing ACL surgery, rehabilitation, and return to sport for elite athletes, including his advanced Bio-Fertilization™ surgical approach.

LOS ANGELES, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Reza Jazayeri, MD, a double board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist practicing in the Los Angeles area, served as invited faculty at Soccer Medicine Updates and New Innovations: World Cup 2026, a continuing education conference held Friday, May 22, 2026, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, home of the LA Galaxy. The conference was co-hosted by the Department of Orthopedics at Cedars-Sinai and Select Medical, in partnership with Dignity Health, and timed to the arrival of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Los Angeles.

Dr. Jazayeri presented "Blueprint for Optimizing Surgical Success" within Session 2: All About the Knee — From the Pitch to the OR, a session devoted to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in soccer athletes — from injury prevention and diagnosis through surgery and return to play. He also joined the session's Panel Q&A and Cases discussion alongside faculty including Rachel Frank, MD, Clinton J. Soppe, MD, Kevin Wilk, PT, DPT, FAPTA, and Holly Silvers-Granelli, PhD, MPT. The session was moderated by Carlos Uquillas, MD, Vincent Minjares, PhD, and former U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu. The course director was Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD, medical director of the Cedars-Sinai FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence.

ACL injuries are among the most consequential setbacks an elite soccer player can face, and the quality of the surgery and the rehabilitation that follows can determine whether an athlete returns to the same level of performance. Dr. Jazayeri's presentation laid out a framework for optimizing ACL surgery and recovery in high-level athletes, addressing both ACL repair and ACL reconstruction and tracing the full arc from preoperative preparation through rehabilitation and return to sport.

A centerpiece of the talk was Bio-Fertilization™, a surgical framework Dr. Jazayeri developed to strengthen and support healing at the repair site. Applied to the knee through what he calls the Biologically Optimized ACL Technique, the approach combines biologic augmentation of the graft tunnels to support graft incorporation at the bone with a metabolic and nutritional program built around the perioperative period — including essential amino acid supplementation to help protect muscle, preserve quadriceps strength, and support recovery. The goal, Dr. Jazayeri explained, is to address both the mechanical repair and the biological environment the body needs for durable healing and a confident return to competition.

The framework draws on Dr. Jazayeri's published and ongoing work in perioperative nutritional and metabolic optimization for orthopedic surgery, an emerging area of sports medicine focused on preparing the body before surgery to improve outcomes and accelerate return to play. He is a co-author of "The Role of Amino Acid Supplementation in Orthopaedic Surgery," published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 2024, and of "Nutritional Intervention to Improve Outcomes for Orthopaedic Surgery," published in Instructional Course Lectures in 2025.

The conference program was designed for both professional and lay audiences, drawing physicians across orthopaedic surgery, sports medicine, cardiology, neurology, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and family medicine, along with physician assistants, physical therapists, and athletic trainers. Former and current soccer players took part in the program. Faculty were drawn from an internationally recognized group of soccer medicine leaders, with participation from fellow FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence partners at Duke University, Hospital for Special Surgery, and the LA Galaxy. Cedars-Sinai has held FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence designation since 2007 and is one of only three such centers in the United States.

"For a soccer player, an ACL injury is not just a surgery, it is a race to get back to the pitch without losing a step," said Dr. Jazayeri. "My focus is on getting the whole picture right, from how we reconstruct or repair the ligament, to the biology at the graft site, to the metabolic and nutritional preparation that protects the muscle around the knee. With the Bio-Fertilization approach, we are treating the repair and the environment it heals in as one strategy. Sharing that blueprint with the surgeons, therapists, and performance staff who care for these athletes is how we move return-to-sport results forward, and I was honored to do it as the World Cup comes to Los Angeles."

Dr. Jazayeri sees patients at DOCS Health in the Beverly Hills area and at Specialty Surgical Center in Westlake Village, and offers telehealth consultations for out-of-town and international patients. He has recently added a new satellite office in Orange County located at 1310 W. Stewart Dr. Suite 308 Orange, CA 92868.

His practice focuses on shoulder, knee, and elbow care for athletes and active adults, with an emphasis on minimally invasive arthroscopic techniques, prehabilitation, and guided recovery.

More About Dr. Reza Jazayeri

Reza Jazayeri, MD, is a double board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, and Director of Longevity at DOCS Health. A Southern California native, he earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, completed his orthopedic surgery residency at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, and completed a sports medicine fellowship at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, a Cedars-Sinai affiliated institution in Los Angeles. He spent more than 15 years with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group before joining DOCS Health, and he remains involved in the education and training of future orthopedic surgeons. His practice treats shoulder, knee, and elbow conditions for athletes and active individuals across the greater Los Angeles region.

For more information about Dr. Reza Jazayeri or to schedule a consultation, please visit www.drjazortho.com.

Media Contact
Reza Jazayeri, MD
8436 W 3rd St, Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 746-5918
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