AO Technical Commission
The AO Technical Commission sits at the heart of the AO Innovation Translation Center (AO ITC) covering Innovation Clearing and Clinical Expertise for our four specialties: trauma, spine, craniomaxillofacial, and veterinary surgery.
Medical-technical committees are responsible for the development and clinical testing of new devices and for supporting their educational concepts. Around 120 outstanding surgeons across the world work together with engineers to solve the most pressing clinical problems.
How we work
Governance
The AO Technical Commission Executive Board (AO TCEB) supervises and steers activities within the AO Technical Commission and ensures that the priorities are in line with the AO’s mission.
| Chairperson | Michael J Raschke, DE (Chairperson AO TC Trauma) |
| Members | Nils-Claudius Gellrich, DE (Chairperson AO TC CMF) Theodore Miclau, US (Chairperson AO ITC Clinical Scientific Advisory Commission) Maarten Spruit, NL (Chairperson AO TC Spine) |
The AO Technical Commission Trauma defines and prioritizes the projects of its Global Expert Committees (GECs), Expert Groups (EGs) and Task Forces (TFs). Furthermore, it supervises the work of its groups, appoints or dissolves groups, and is the body empowered to approve a device or method indicated for the area of Trauma. It comprises the following GECs which themselves oversee the listed EGs, TFs and/or PTs within their anatomical region or specialty:
| Chairperson | Michael J Raschke, DE |
| Members | Paulo R Barbosa, BR Mark Lee, US Keith A Mayo, US Mark Reilly, US (Chair AO Trauma EC) Merng K Wong, SG |
| Member without vote | Loïc Déjardin, US |
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Lower Extremity GEC (LEGEC)
Chairperson Christoph Sommer, CH Members Christopher G Finkemeier, US
Cong-Feng Luo, CN
Unni G Narayanan, CA
Matías F Sepúlveda Oviedo, CL
David Stephen, US
Karl K Stoffel, CH
Michael P Swords, USFoot and Ankle EG (FAEG)
Chairperson Tim Schepers, NL Members Michael P Swords, US
John Shank, US
Matthew Tomlinson, NZ
Intramedullary Nailing EG (INEG)
Chairperson Christopher G Finkemeier, US Members Andrew JR Oppy, AU
Matías F Sepúlveda Oviedo, CL
Alina Ortega Briones, ES
David Forsh, USPelvic EG (PEEG)
Chairperson David Stephen, CA Members Jorge D Barla, AR
Ramesh K Sen, IN
Michael Stover, US
Moritz Tannast, CHDistal Femur Plating TF (DFPTF)
Chairperson Karl K Stoffel, CH Members Theerachai Apivatthakakul, TH
Tina Histing, DE
Andrew JR Oppy, AU
Klaus-Dieter Schaser, DE
Justin Lucas, USNext Tomofix TF (NTTF)
Chairperson Kang-Il Kim, KR Members Kenichi Goshima, JP
Ye Huang, CN
Hidetomo Saito, JP
Michael Schütz, AU
Hui Zhang, CNProximal Tibia Plating TF (PTPTF)
Chairperson Christoph Sommer, CH Members Adam P Breceda, US
Elmar Herbst, DE
Matthias Krause, DE
Cong-Feng Luo, CN
Jong-Keon Oh, KR -
Upper Extremity GEC (UEGEC)
Chairperson Simon M Lambert, GB Members Thomas J Fischer, US
Harry Hoyen, US
Stefan Schulz-Drost, DE
Frank Beeres, CHHand EG (HAEG)
Chairperson Thomas J Fischer, US Members Martin Langer, DE
Alejandro Lluch Bergada, ES
Stephen Tham, AU
Sudhir S Warrier, INThoracic EG (THEG)
Chairperson Stefan Schulz-Drost, DE Members Michael Bemelman, NL
Peter Cole, US
Ledford Powell, US
Evert Eriksson, USElbow TF (EBTF)
Chairperson Harry A Hoyen, US Members Frank Beeres, CH
Michael Plecko, AT
Joideep Phadnis, UKShoulder TF (SHTF)
Chairperson Frank Beeres, CH Members Joyce S B Koh, SG
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Veterinary GEC (VEGEC)
Chairperson Fabrice Rossignol, FR
Members Lucas Beierer, AUS
Alexis Bilmont,UK
Janik C Gasiorowski, US
Kati Glass, US
W Brian Saunders, US
Large Animal EG (LAEG)
Chairperson Fabrice Rossignol, FR Members Janik C Gasiorowski, US
Kati Glass, USSmall Animal EG (SAEG)
Chairperson W Brian Saunders, US
Members Lucas Beierer, AUS
Alexis Bilmont, UK
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Additional EGs and TFs
Trauma Digital EG (TDEG)
Chairperson Benedikt Braun, DE Members Yves Acklin, CH
Meir Marmor, US
Greg Osgood, US
Steffen Schröter, DE
Julian Yu, AU
Growth Modulation TF (GMTF)
Chairperson Chang-Wug Oh, KR Members Unni Narayanan, CA
Steffen Rosslenbroich, DE
Kevin Tetsworth, AU
MAXFRAME TF (MFTF)
Chairperson J Spence Reid, US Members Mitchell Bernstein, CA
Geoffrey Marecek, US
Stephen Quinnan, USNext Generation Plating TF (NGPTF)
Chairperson Christoph Sommer, CH Members Jonathan Dwyer, GB
Cong-Feng Luo, CN
Keith Mayo, US
Sean Nork, US
Karl Stoffel, CHReconstructive Foot and Ankle TF (RFATF)
Chairperson Andrew Sands, US Members Per-Henrik Agren, SW
Charles White, US
Panos Symeonidis, GR
Jennifer Gurske Deperio, US
Edwin Wolf, US
Stephen Benirschke, US
The AO Technical Commission Spine defines and prioritizes the projects of its Expert Groups (EGs) and Task Forces (TFs) (see below). Furthermore, it supervises the work of its groups, appoints or dissolves groups, and is the body empowered to approve a device or method indicated for the area of Spine.
| Chairperson | Maarten Spruit, NL |
| Members | Richard Bransford, US (Chair AO Spine EC) Peter Derman, US Christian Mazel, FR Jean A Ouellet, CA Kota Watanabe, JP Chung Check Wong, MY Jack Zigler, US |
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Cervical Spine EG (CEEG)
Chairperson Chung Chek Wong, MY Members Richard Bransford, US
Kazu Kitamura, JP
Timothy Moore, US
Juan Zamorano, CL -
Complex Thoracolumbar EG (CTLEG)
Chairperson Christian Mazel, FR Members Naresh Kumar, SG
Firoz Miyanji, CA
Yu-Mi Ryang, DE
Kevin Seex, AU -
Lumbar Degenerative EG (LDEG)
Chairperson Peter Derman, US Members Ali Baaj, US
Robert Jan Kroeze, NL
Matti Scholz, DE
So Kato, JP
Sameh Abolfotouh, UEA -
Cervico-Thoracic Instrumentation TF (CTITF) *
Chairperson Christian Mazel, FR Members Lorin Benneker, CH
Richard Bransford, US
Michelle Clarke, US
Naresh Kumar, SG
Firoz Miyanji, CA
Yu-Mi Ryang, DE
Maarten Spruit, NL
Jean-Paul Wolinsky, US* Collaboration with icotec AG, Switzerland
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Osteoporotic Spine Instrumentation TF (OSITF) *
Chairperson Maarten Spruit, NL Members Lorin M Benneker, CH
Richard Bransford, US
Naresh Kumar, SG
Christian Mazel, FR
Yu-Mi Ryang, DE
Kota Watanabe, JP
Jean-Paul Wolinsky, US* Collaboration with icotec AG, Switzerland
The AO Technical Commission CMF defines and prioritizes the projects of its Task Forces (TFs) (see below). Furthermore, it supervises the work of its groups, appoints or dissolves groups, and is the body empowered to approve a device or method indicated for the area of CMF.
| Chairperson | Nils-Claudius Gellrich, DE |
| Members |
Stefano Fusetti, IT (Chair AO CMF EC) |
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Patient Specific Solutions Expert Group (PSSEG)
Chairperson Majeed Rana, DE Members Thomas Kofod, DK
Philippe Korn, DE
Gerhard Mundinger, US
Edward Strong, US
Patricia Stoor, FI
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Total Mandibular Joint Replacement Task Force (TMJTF)
Chairperson Sergio Olate, CL Members Ricky Kumar, AUS
Zachary Peacock, US
Wenko Smolka, DE
Rüdiger Zimmerer, DE
Some topics require attention across the specialties. The AO TC Executive Board appoints or dissolves Global Expert Committees (GECs), Expert Groups (EGs) or Task Forces (TFs) working on such topics and the groups may include medical members from different specialties. The groups are either supervised by the AO TC Executive Board or a dedicated specialty AO TC.
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Anti-Infection GEC (AIGEC)
Chairperson Michiel Verhofstad, NL Members Volker Alt, DE
Willem-Jan Metsemakers, BE
William T Obremskey, US
Andrej Trampuz, DE
Peter Vajkoczy, DE
Charalampos Zalavras, US -
Interdisciplinary Digital Technology Panel (IDTP)Consisting of selected individuals from the Trauma Digital Expert Group, AO TC Spine, and AO TC CMF.
Experts Symposia
Where outstanding minds come together in a robust process to improve available treatments.
Meet the Experts
Wherever you are in the world, whatever your field of interest, Meet the Experts has something for you.
AO Approved Solutions
Offering detailed descriptions of AO Approved Solutions, including videos and clinical cases.
Latest innovations
Learn about the newest AO Technical Commission approved products in Trauma, Spine, CMF, and Vet.
Completed studies
We transform ideas into clinical study protocols. AO clinical studies are divided into 5 phases: idea, planning, execution, analysis, and publication.
“The AO Technical Commission is unique because it is a place where you have very innovative people coming together and trying to come up with solutions to very complex problems.”
Daniel Buchbinder, former AO Technical Commission Executive Board Chair