AO Spine

Issue 26, September 2020

Editorial by Norman Chutkan

Dear Reader

Many of us have kept going with the notion that we would be returning to a kind of normal by the time this Newsletter comes out. Even our working title was the "Back in Business" special. But instead of going back, we find ourselves moving ahead at a huge pace, making a COVID-19 assisted leap into the future where collaboration and sharing information take center stage. We are finding new ways to learn, do research, and connect with people, as well as witnessing a boost in innovation and new technologies—all at the very core of AO Spine and the reason for our being.

‘We are all spine surgeons’: investigating the mind of Aneela Darbar

AO Spine Pakistan Council member Aneela Darbar chose neurosurgery and trained in the US at a time when sending your daughters abroad alone was unheard of in her home country. She tackled taboos and glass ceilings and became the first US-trained female neurosurgeon in Pakistan. Today, she is a sought-after international speaker who has given more than 100 talks on neurosurgery and on empowering women.

A huge milestone for Global Spine Journal—the only open access spine journal with an Impact Factor

The Global Spine Journal (GSJ) has just received its first Impact Factor, which in itself is a huge milestone. The score of 2.687 in the Orthopaedics and Clinical Neurology indexes makes GSJ the second ranked spine journal and the only ranked open access spine journal. GSJ has come a long way since its beginning.

Team science at its finest—AO Spine collaborative study impacts health care policies worldwide

An international AO Spine study on the impact of COVID-19 on spine surgeons is having an unprecedented effect on the way pandemics are assessed and managed in the future. Papers have been published in almost every major spine journal at a record speed, and the WHO has requested outcomes of the study for future planning. Further prospective studies and guidelines are already in planning and they will have a direct impact on health care policy worldwide.

Highlights