Introducing the AO Spine Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) Regional Board
A great start into the new year 2025 for MENA!

At the start of this year, we are excited to introduce to you the AO Spine MENA Board members and get to know their background.
Chairperson Muzahem Taha, Iraq
Dr Muzahem M. Taha, born in June 1976 in Iraq, completed his medical education and specialization in orthopedic surgery in Baghdad. He pursued advanced fellowships and postgraduate training in the USA and Europe, focusing on spine surgery as his subspecialty.
Currently, Taha serves as a Consultant and Associate Professor in Orthopedic and Spine Surgery at Kirkuk University, Iraq. He is also the Head of the Orthopedic and Spine Department at Erbil International Hospital.
His primary research interests include minimally invasive spine surgery and degenerative spine disorders.
Taha holds prominent leadership positions, serving as the Chairman of AO Spine Middle East and North Africa and Chair of the SICOT Spine Subspecialty. Muzahem Taha can be reached by email.
Previous AO activities
Governance: MENA Regional Board Education Officer, Iraq Country Council Chairperson, Iraq Country Council Fellowship and Spine Center Officer
Other relevant engagements: AO Spine Trained Faculty, MENA Educational Advisor, Education Task Force Member, AO Spine Davos Courses as Faculty, Course Chair and as EA, AO Spine Fellow
Education Officer Sameh Abolfotouh, United Arab Emirates
Dr Sameh Abolfotouh is currently working as an Attending Orthopedics Spine Surgeon at MEDCARE Hospital in Dubai.
He is a Harvard Medical School Alumni, spent clinical spine surgery fellowships at the University of Missouri, and at the Centre of Spine and Orthopaedics in Colorado.
Dr Sameh Abolfotouh can be reached by email.
AO activities
Governance: GCC Country Council Chairperson, GCC Country Council Officer
Other relevant engagements: AO Spine Trained Faculty, AO PEER Faculty, AO SMENA Research Steering Committee Member, AO College Faculty Member
Community Development Officer Mohamed Khattab, Egypt
Dr Khattab is currently working as Associate Professor of Orthopedic Department, Faculty of Medicine at Ain Shams University, Cairo. He is also working as a Consultant of Orthopaedic and Spine Surgery at Ain Shams University Specialized Hospital in Cairo.
Khattab received his primary education and training in the field of spine surgeries at Ain Shams University in Cairo.
He spent his microscopic and minimally invasive spine fellowship at the Munich Spine Center. Furthermore, he spent spinal deformity fellowships at Haccetepe University in Ankara, at Istanbul Spine Center Turkey and at Mountain Sinai Hospital in New York.
Khattab got training in Japan to cover cervical spine pathology management. Then he stepped further in his career in the spinal tumors at Spinal Disorder Hospital in Budapest.
Khattab is covering spine deformity, revision spine surgery and minimally invasive surgeries. He is the founder of the Egyptian Spine Study Group and a board member of the Pan Arab Spine Society Chair of the Egyptian Spine Association.
Mohamed Khattab can be reached by email.
AO activities
Governance: Egypt Country Council Chairperson, Egypt Country Council Officer
Other relevant engagements: AO Spine Faculty, Ain Shams-AO Spine Fellowship Host Center Program Director
Research Officer Kabir Abubakar, Nigeria
Dr. Kabir Abubakar is a Consultant Special Grade I (Orthopaedic and Spine) and Head of the Spine Group at National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano, Nigeria. He was the Medical Director of the same institution from 2005-2013. The National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano is a tertiary health clinical care and postgraduate training institution specialized in Orthopaedic Surgery and related subspecialties.
He is credited with setting up the spinal unit of the National Orthopaedic Hospital in 1999 and pioneering instrumented spine surgery there. Starting off as a lone spine surgeon, he has expanded the unit to become the biggest and busiest spine center in the country with a dedicated spine block building commissioned recently, ten consultants and a turnover of over six hundred spine operations yearly.
Abubakar’s journey in Spine Surgery started twenty-four years ago in the spine unit, University of Ulm, Germany. Starting with the “Ulm Spine” week in the year 2000 he has attended fellowships, courses, conferences, visitations and observer posts to advance knowledge and practical skills in Trauma and Spine Surgery in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, UAE and some African countries.
Kabir Abubakar can be reached by email.
AO activities
Governance: West Africa Country Council Chairperson
Other relevant engagements: AO Spine Faculty, AO College Faculty, Global Spine Diploma Faculty, AO Spine Fellow
Member at Large: Fellowships and host centers
Faisal Konbaz, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Faisal Konbaz works as a Consultant in Spine Surgery at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh. Furthermore, he is an Associate Professor at the College of Medicine at Alfaisal University in Riyadh. He spent clinical spine surgery fellowships at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Duke University Hospital in Durham NC, USA.
Faisal Konbaz can be reached by email.
AO activities
Governance: AO Spine KSA Country Council Officer
Other relevant engagements: AO Spine Trained Faculty, AO Davos Courses International Faculty
You may also be interested in:
Global Spine Congress (GSC)
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AO Spine Guest Blog
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Global Spine Journal (GSJ)
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