Dr. Cesar Hincapié is an epidemiologist, chiropractor, and Senior Scientist at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI) of the University of Zurich, where he leads the Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Research Group. He is also Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology.

He graduated with high honours in Physical and Health Education from the University of Toronto (1999) and completed his clinical training as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC, 2003) at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. While maintaining clinical practice, he earned a MHSc (2008) and PhD (2015) in epidemiology at the University of Toronto, supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship in knowledge translation. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training in injury epidemiology and clinical trials at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, in Toronto, Canada. 

Dr. Hincapié was recruited to the University of Zurich in 2019 as an International Chiropractic Research Fellow, where he led clinical epidemiology and research activities within the Department of Chiropractic Medicine at Balgrist University Hospital. In August 2022, he joined EBPI as Head of the Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Research Group, a role initially shared with the University Spine Centre Zurich at Balgrist, and since August 2025 held fully at EBPI.

At EBPI, he leads an interdisciplinary research programme applying rigorous clinical epidemiological methods to improve musculoskeletal (MSK) health and care. His work spans pragmatic clinical trials, practice-based research, citizen science, evidence synthesis, and real-world data studies, all aimed at generating patient-centred evidence to improve MSK care in Switzerland and internationally. Current initiatives include citizen-led research priority setting, development of a Swiss MSK Health Registry, real-world analyses of chiropractic and MSK care, pragmatic trials such as SALuBRITY, and international evidence syntheses informing clinical guidelines.

The Musculoskeletal Epidemiology Research Group focuses on the burden, determinants, prognosis, and management of MSK conditions, with an emphasis on translating high-quality evidence into improved healthcare delivery and outcomes.

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Cesar Hincapie in PubMed

ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7257-8122

ResearchGate

• SALuBRITY: Spinal manual therapy versus nerve root injection for patients with back-related leg pain
• Swiss ChiCo: a nationwide, participatory resource to advance musculoskeletal health services research
• Quality and certainty of modelled epidemiologic estimates of musculoskeletal conditions
• Epidemiology and costs of chiropractic care in Switzerland
• Evidence syntheses to inform WHO Guideline on management of chronic low back pain
• Comparative-effectiveness of fusion versus decompression surgery for degenerative spondylolisthesis
• Bayesian analysis of association between chiropractic care and acute lumbar disc herniation
• Knowledge syntheses of musculoskeletal health and care epidemiology
• Feedback and communication strategies for benchmarking of surgical care
• Neurodegenerative disorders and nonsurgical interventions after mild traumatic brain injury

• Prevalence estimation of musculoskeletal conditions in the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study: Critical appraisal of the primary data input studies and an approach to rate the certainty of the GBD modelled epidemiologic estimates