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

The AO Technical Commission consists of three specialty AO technical commissions (Trauma, Spine, and CMF), various Global Expert Committees, Expert Groups, and Task Forces which are convened to provide expert opinion in their respective specialist areas. In a collaborative approach, these committees include representation from the AO's trusted partner DePuy Synthes, a Johnson&Johnson Group Company, or other industrial partners, and may involve colleagues from other AO institutes when needed. The AO Technical Commission plays a crucial role in quality control and product development, forming an essential link between the AO's clinical divisions, clinical units, other institutes, initiatives, and the AO's global network.

Governance

AO TCEB
AO TC Trauma
AO TC Spine
AO TC CMF
Interdisciplinary groups

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

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, US

Foot and Ankle EG (FAEG)

Chairperson	Michael P Swords, US
Members	Tim Schepers, NL 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, US

Pelvic EG (PEEG)

Chairperson	David Stephen, CA
Members	Jorge D Barla, AR Ramesh K Sen, IN Michael Stover, US Moritz Tannast, CH

Distal Femur Plating TF (DFPTF)

Chairperson	Karl K Stoffel, CH
Members	Theerachai Apivatthakakul, TH Tina Histing, DE Andrew JR Oppy, AU Klaus-Dieter Schaser, DE

Next Tomofix TF (NTTF)

Chairperson	Kang-Il Kim, KR
Members	Kenichi Goshima, JP Ye Huang, CN Hidetomo Saito, JP Michael Schütz, AU Hui Zhang, CN

Proximal 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, CH

Hand EG (HAEG)

Chairperson	Thomas J Fischer, US
Members	Martin Langer, DE Alejandro Lluch Bergada, ES Stephen Tham, AU Sudhir S Warrier, IN

Thoracic EG (THEG)

Chairperson	Stefan Schulz-Drost, DE
Members	Michael Bemelman, NL Peter Cole, US Ledford Powell, US Evert Eriksson, US

Elbow TF (EBTF)

Chairperson	Harry A Hoyen, US
Members	Frank Beeres, CH Michael Plecko, AT Joideep Phadnis, UK

Shoulder TF (SHTF)

Chairperson	Frank Beeres, CH
Members	Joyce S B Koh, SG

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, US

Small Animal EG (SAEG)

Chairperson	W Brian Saunders, US
Members	Lucas Beierer, AUS Alexis Bilmont, UK

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, US

Next Generation Plating TF (NGPTF)

Chairperson	Christoph Sommer, CH
Members	Jonathan Dwyer, GB Cong-Feng Luo, CN Keith Mayo, US Sean Nork, US Karl Stoffel, CH

Reconstructive 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

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

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) Michael P Grant, US Alberto Rocha Pereira, PT Morio Tonogi, JP Alexander Schramm, DE

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

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.

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.

AO Technical Commission structure as of July, 2025