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
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 | Alexander Schramm, DE (Chairperson AO TC CMF) Theodore Miclau, US (Chairperson AO ITC Clinical Scientific Advisory Commission) Richard Bransford, US (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 Rodrigo Pesantez, CO (Chair AO Trauma Education Commission) C.W. Oh, KR |
| Chairperson | Christoph Sommer, CH |
| Members | Unni G Narayanan, CA Andrew JR Oppy, AU Tim Schepers, NL David Stephen, US Karl K Stoffel, CH |
Foot and Ankle EG (FAEG)
| Chairperson | Tim Schepers, NL |
| Members | Michael P Swords, US John Shank, US Tim Schepers, NL Lubomir Kopp, CZ |
Intramedullary Nailing EG (INEG)
| Chairperson | Andrew JR Oppy, AU |
| Members | Matías F Sepúlveda Oviedo, CL Alina Ortega Briones, ES Christopher G Finkemeier, US David Forsh, US |
Pelvic EG (PEEG)
| Chairperson | David Stephen, CA |
| Members | Sven Märdian, DE Michael Stover, US Moritz Tannast, CH Vivek Trikha, IN Danilo T Zamboni, AR |
Distal Femur Plating TF (DFPTF)
| Chairperson | Karl K Stoffel, CH |
| Members | Theerachai Apivatthakakul, TH Tina Histing, DE Klaus-Dieter Schaser, DE Justin Lucas, US |
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 |
| Chairperson | Simon M Lambert, GB |
| Members | Thomas J Fischer, US Harry Hoyen, US Stefan Schulz-Drost, DE Frank Beeres, CH |
Hand EG (HAEG)
| Chairperson | Sudhir Warrier, IN |
| Members | Thomas J Fischer, US Martin F Langer, DE Alejandro Lluch Bergada, ES Amy Speeckaert, US Stephen Tham, AU |
Thoracic EG (THEG)
| Chairperson | Stefan Schulz-Drost, DE |
| Members | Peter Cole, US Ledford L Powell, US Evert Eriksson, US |
Elbow TF (EBTF)
| Chairperson | Harry A Hoyen, US |
| Members | Frank Beeres, CH Michael Plecko, AT Joideep Phadnis, UK Joyce Koh, SN |
Shoulder TF (SHTF)
| Chairperson | Frank Beeres, CH |
| Members | Diane Nam, CA |
Trauma Digital EG (TDEG)
| Chairperson | Benedikt Braun, DE |
| Members | Yves Acklin, CH Meir Marmor, US Greg Osgood, US Steffen Schröter, DE Julian Yu, AU |
External Fixation TF (EFTF)
| Chairperson | Michael Swords, US |
| Members | Malcolm DeBaun, US Matthew Graves, US Vajara Phiphobmongkol, TH Christian Michelitsch, CH |
Growth Modulation TF (GMTF)
| Chairperson | Chang-Wug Oh, KR |
| Members | Unni Narayanan, CA Steffen Rosslenbroich, DE Kevin Tetsworth, AU |
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 Stephen Benirschke, US Jennifer Gurske Deperio, US Panos Symeonidis, GR Charles White, US Edwin Wolf, 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 | Richard Bransford, US |
| Members | Ahmed Aoude, CA Moritz Deml, CH Manabu Ito, JP (Chair AO Spine Education Commission) Firoz Miyanji, CA Kevin Seex, AU Chung Check Wong, MY Jack Zigler, US Christian Mazel, FR (Member at Large) Maarten Spruit, NL (Member at Large) |
| Chairperson | Chung Check Wong, MY |
| Members | Kazuya Kitamura, JP Timothy Moore, US Juan J Zamorano, CL |
| Chairperson | Firoz Miyanji, CA |
| Members | Ahmed Aoude, CA Yu-Mi Ryang, DE Alisson Teles, BR J.P. Wolinsky, US |
| Chairperson | Kevin Seex, AU |
| Members | Sameh Abolfotouh, UEA Ali A Baaj, US So Kato, JP Robert J Kroeze, NL William R Spiker, US |
| Chairperson | Maarten Spruit, NL |
| Members | Lorin Benneker, CH Richard Bransford, US Cordula Netzer, CH Yu-Mi Ryang, DE John Shin, US Claudio Tatsui, US Michael Weber, US 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 | Alexander Schramm, DE |
| Members | Stefano Fusetti, IT (Chairperson AO CMF Education Commission) Michael P Grant, US Sergio Olate, BR Alberto Rocha Pereira, PT Edward B Strong, US |
| Chairperson | Majeed Rana, SG |
| Members | Daniel Hammer, US Philippe Korn, DE Marc Metzger, DE Gerhard Mundinger, US Marina Morante Silva, US |
| 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.
The Interdisciplinary Digital Technology Panel (IDTP) consists of selected individuals from the Trauma Digital Expert Group, AO TC Spine, and AO TC CMF.
AO Technical Commission structure as of August, 2026
“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