Proceedings of the 2026 Biologics Research Think Tank Convened by AANA, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and the Biologic Association.

The Arthroscopy Association of North America, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and the Biologic Association convened the 2026 Biologics Research Think Tank on May 16, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona, in conjunction with the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting. The purpose of the Think Tank was to identify critical research gaps in orthobiologics and translate them into targeted, high-impact, multicenter initiatives, and specifically to develop Requests for Proposals spanning both nonsurgical biologics and surgical biologic augmentation, with the ultimate goal of accelerating biologics research through strategic collaboration and shared grant funding across the societies. Expert panelists presented across 3 scientific sessions-cell-based injectable orthobiologics, cell-free biologic therapies and translational mechanisms, and intraoperative biologic adjuvants-followed by a comprehensive discussion and a Requests for Proposal-building exercise intended to identify the most impactful and fundable research directions over the next 3 to 5 years. The Think Tank reached consensus to develop collaborative Requests for Proposals centered on these areas. We summarize here the proceedings and the resulting research directions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, expert opinion.