About AO Spine Knowledge Forum SCI
AO Spine Knowledge Forum Spinal Cord Injury (KF SCI): Driving Global Evidence and Innovation in Spinal Cord Injury Care
Operating at the forefront of translational science, KF SCI focuses on solving key unresolved challenges in SCI, including surgical timing, advanced diagnostics, intraoperative monitoring, and standardized treatment pathways. Through a structured, evidence-driven approach, the forum ensures that research findings are directly translated into clinical practice, shaping international standards of care.
KF SCI is embedded within the broader AO Spine Knowledge Forum network, representing a global collaborative of over 260 expert clinicians and researchers across 38 countries, reflecting a truly international research ecosystem.
Over the past decade, the Knowledge Forums have delivered substantial academic and clinical impact, including:
- 17 multicenter international clinical studies and trials
- 3 global patient registries
- 6 international clinical practice guidelines
- 9 validated classification systems
- 4 core outcome measurement sets
- More than 350 peer-reviewed publications and over 500 scientific abstracts
Within this framework, KF SCI has contributed to landmark initiatives such as the RISCIS randomized controlled trial and RECODE-DCM, advancing global understanding of acute SCI and degenerative cervical myelopathy.
The forum’s work is guided by internationally renowned leaders in spinal cord injury research and spine surgery, including Shekhar Kurpad, Michael G. Fehlings, Brian K. Kwon, and Bizhan Aarabi. Additional influential contributors include James S. Harrop, Marcel F. Dvorak, Jefferson R. Wilson, and Ralph J. Mobbs—collectively representing a global leadership cohort driving innovation, guideline development, and high-impact research in SCI care.
The forum also leads and participates in multiple ongoing multicenter prospective studies and translational research programs, including biomarker discovery, surgical timing optimization, and functional recovery assessment. These initiatives highlight KF SCI’s commitment to precision medicine and data-driven care.
A defining achievement of KF SCI is its leadership in developing globally adopted clinical practice guidelines, including recommendations on surgical decompression timing and perioperative SCI management, in collaboration with international partners such as the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute.
With contributors producing over 2,700 SCI-related publications across more than 1,600 journals, the academic footprint of KF SCI and its associated network is both extensive and influential.
Through its sustained commitment to excellence, the AO Spine Knowledge Forum SCI continues to redefine spinal cord injury care—bridging research and clinical practice, fostering international collaboration, and improving outcomes for patients worldwide.
Why AO Spine KF SCI Matters Globally
Steering Committee Members
- Shekar Kurpad (Chairperson) – Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA –
- Brian Kwon (Past Chairperson) – University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Jefferson Wilson – University of Toronto, Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto, Canada
- Lukas Grassner – Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
- Allan R. Martin – University of California, Davis, CA, USA
- Ricardo Rodrigues-Pinto – University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Advisory Board Members
- Bizhan Aarabi – University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
- Michael Fehlings – University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- James Guest – University of Miami, Miami, USA
- Allard Hosman – Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Sadi Abuznadah – King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Bartosz Godlewski – Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
- Seyed Behzad Jazayeri – University of Florida, Jacksonville, USA
- Zhuoer Nicholas Feng – First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Nicolas Dea – Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Julio Urrutia – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Andres Chahin – Clínica Alemana de Santiago & Hospital Regional de Talca, Santiago, Chile
- Kabir Abubakar – National Orthopaedic Hospital Dala, Kano, Nigeria
- Mahmoud Fouad Ibrahim – Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt
- Juan José Zamorano Pérez – Clínica Alemana de Santiago and Hospital del Trabajador-ACHS, Santiago, Chile
- Adetunji Toluse – National Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria
- Jiang Lei – Singapore General Hospital/Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
