Rodrigo Pesantez is the new AO Trauma Education Commission chairperson-elect

Following elections conducted in February 2024, Dr Rodrigo Pesantez from Colombia is the new AO Trauma Education Commission (AO TEC) Chairperson. His one-year term as Chair-elect starts on July 1, 2024 and concludes on June 30, 2025, when he will become AO TEC Chairperson until 30 June 2029.

Pesantez, an orthopedic trauma surgeon practicing in Bogotá, Colombia, earned his MD in 1988 at Colegio Mayor de Neustra Señora del Rosario. He completed his orthopedic surgery training at Colegio Mayor de Neustra Señora del Rosario in 1994 and, the same year, completed an orthopedic trauma fellowship at UC Davis in the United States. Additionally, he completed an AO Trauma Fellowship at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, and received training in hip surgery under Dr William H Harris at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, United States, as well as Dr Eduardo Salvati at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, United States. He is a clinical professor at Universidad de los Andes Medical School and Colegio Mayor de Neustra Señora del Rosario, both in Bogotá.

Pesantez has been involved with the AO since 1996 when he became national faculty in Colombia. His extensive service to AO Trauma includes terms as chairperson of AO Trauma Latin America (2020–2023) and executive secretary of AO Trauma Latin America (2003–2008) and membership on the AO Trauma Technical Commission (AO TC) Lower Extremity Expert Group, the Periprosthetic Expert Group, the AO Trauma Advanced Courses Task Force.

The election process was overseen and ratified by the AO Trauma Nomination Committee (NomCom), which has confirmed that the process was transparent, fair, and in full compliance with the AO TEC Terms of Reference. The AO Trauma International Board (AO TIB) approved Pesantez’s election in February 2024. AO Trauma congratulates Pesantez and wishes him every success in his new role.