Editorial Board

Dr. Ender Köktekir was born in Germany in 1978. Currently, he is working in the Selçuk University Department of Neurosurgery as a Professor. He is specialized in Spine Surgery including deformity surgery. He worked as an Associate Editor in Turkish Neurosurgery Journal between 2015-2023.

He has been elected a council member of Turkish Spine Association since 2023. He was certified by Turkish Neurosurgical Society Board in 2011 and current president of Turkish Neurosurgery Society Board Council.

Dr. Erşen graduated from Gülhane Military Medical School in 2003. He completed his residency in Orthopedics and Traumatology in 2011 at Gülhane Military Medical Academy. He worked as orthopedic surgeon in Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center and Erzurum Military Hospital between 2011 and 2015. He passed TOTEK Board exam in 2014. His clinical and research focus is on Spine surgery and foot surgery. He currently works as Associate Professor of Orthopedics at Health Sciences University, Gülhane School of Medicine.

Dr. Metin Özalay is Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. He graduated from Hacettepe University School of Medicine (education in English) Ankara, Turkey, in 1994. He was trained in Gazi University Orthopaedics and Traumatology between years 1994-2000 in Ankara. He then worked as Assistan Professor in Başkent University Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, School of Medicine (2000-2006) in Adana. He became Associated Professor (2006) and Professor (2012) in Başkent University Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology in Adana.

He did speciality training in spine surgery. He made his fellowship in İstanbul Spine Center, İstanbul Florance Nightingale Hospital, İstanbul-2001 with Professor Dr. Azmi Hamzaoğlu, SRH Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach, Spine Center, Karlsbad, Germany, June 2004 with Prof. Dr. Jurgen Harms, University of Texas, Medical Faculty, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA Orthopedic Oncology, Spine Surgery, Orthopaedic, Athletic and Reconstructive Research Foundation, January 2007 with Rex A.W. Marco, MD and GICD Fellowship (IGASS) June 2006, Paris, France with Prof Philippe Bancel; Berc Sur Mer, France with Dr. Daniel Chopin, Barcelona, Spain with Dr. Carlos Villaneuva and Dr. Jose Cajamitjana; Heidelberg, Germany with Prof Claus Carstens.

He was Turkish Spine Society Council Member between 2015-2017, 2017-2019, AOSpine Turkey Council Member, Chair of Research Comitee between 2013-2016, AOSpine Turkey Council Member, Chair of Orthopedics Comitee between 2019-2022, Turkish Orthopaedic Society, Spine Section Council Member between 2013-2015, 2015-2017. He is member of Turkish Orthopaedic Society, Turkish Spine Society, AO Spine, Eurospine, Adana Tabib Odası and Türk Tabibler Birliği. He is now working at Ortogrup Private Clinic in Adana.

Dr. Akgül has been an associate Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the University of İstanbul, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, since 2017. He is specialized in spinal disease and surgery. He has also been a spinal surgeon at Koç University Hospital Spine Center since 2019.

Dr. Akgül has been elected a council member of Turkish Spine Association since 2021. He has been worked at Acta Orthopaedics et Traumatologica Turcica (AOTT) as associate Editors. He also serves as a board member for the Turkish Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery.

Dr Akgül has collaborated in several international and national multicenter studies. His main interests are spinal disease and spinal surgery.

Ali Dalgıç graduated from Ankara University, School of Medicine in 1993 and worked as a primary care physician in 1994-1997.

Dr. Dalgıç’s residency was graduated in Bakırköy Psychiatric and Neurological Science Research and Training Hospital in 1997-2003. He had been working in Neurosurgery Clinic of Ankara Numune Research and Training Hospital until it was closed in 2019 and Neurosurgery Clinic of Ankara City Hospital (2019-2021). Dr. Dalgıç has been working in Ankara Medicana International Hospital since January 2022.

He visited to Prof. Dr. Michael Mayer’s Clinic as an observer in Munich in 2009.

He was certified by Turkish Neurosurgical Society Board in 2010.

His academic position was changed to "Associated Professor" in 2012 and "Professor" in 2022.

His memberships are as follows: Turkish Neurosurgical Society, Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery Group, Turkish Association of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, Turkish Spine Society, European Spine Society, and North American Spine Society.

Prof. Dr. Murat Şakir Ekşi was born in 1983 in Kdz. Ereğli. He graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Medicine in 2007 and completed his specialization training at Marmara University Department of Neurosurgery in 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, within the scope of TÜBİTAK International Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (2219), he conducted research as a research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Orthopedics, Spine Surgery Clinic. During this period, he presented his study titled “Factors causing proximal junctional kyphosis in adult deformity surgery” as one of the ‘best papers’ at the North American Spine Society (NASS) 2015 Chicago meeting. After completing his compulsory government service between 2015 and 2017, he worked at Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University from 2018 to 2021, first as an assistant professor and then, after receiving his associate professorship in 2019, as an associate professor. Since January 2023, he has been working as an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Health Sciences University Hamidiye Faculty of Medicine. As of March 2025, he was promoted to the title of professor at the same faculty. He has 136 national and international publications, 76 presentations, 19 invited talks, 4 book chapters, and has supervised 3 theses for medical specialization. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of International Neuroscience and Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, and he is the section editor for ‘tumor and spine’ in World Neurosurgery. Starting January 2025, he became the editor-in-chief of World Neurosurgery: X, and from July 2025, he began serving as the Neurosurgery responsible on the AO Spine Turkey Council. His H-index is 17 on Web of Science, 18 on ResearchGate, and 20 on Google Scholar (as of June 24, 2025).

Dr. Erkin Sönmez graduated from Başkent University School of Medicine on 2004. He completed his residency at the Neurosurgery department of the aforementioned university. He performed short-term AO Spine fellowship in Basel and Eurospine clinical observership in Milan, Italy. He actively participated several meetings and hands-on workshops about spine surgery.

Dr. Erkin Sönmez’s main area of interest is spine surgery, including trauma, adult deformity, degenerative spinal diseases, infection, osteoporotic fractures and craniovertebral junction disorders.

Tuna Pehlivanoğlu was born in İstanbul in 1986. He graduated from İstanbul Erkek (Boys) Gymnasium with a German high school diploma (ABITUR). In 2005, he started his medical education in Yeditepe University, Faculty of Medicine (in English), finished every semester as the most successful student, and graduated as valedictorian in 2011. During his medical education, he received student with outstanding success scholarship and conducted his rotations in Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Edward Benzel twice and in Klinikum Bremerhaven, Reinkenheide, Chirurgische Abteilung (Department of Surgery).

He completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology between 2011 and 2017 in İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology and continued working as an attending orthopaedic surgeon in the same institution. In 2017, he received AOSpine fellowship scholarship and started to work as a fellow spine of spine surgery in Schön Klinik, Wirbelsäulenzentrum (Center for Spine), Munich, Germany for subspeciality training in spine surgery for three months. From 2017 to 2019, he worked as an an attending orthopaedic surgeon in University of Health Sciences, İstanbul Training and Research Hospital, Clinic of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology and completed his mandatory service in 2019.

In 2019, he received EUROSPINE diploma issued by the spine society of Europe. In 2020 started lecturing in Yeni Yüzyıl University as an assistant professor until 2022. From 2020 to 2022, he worked in Emsey Hospital, department of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology, advanced spine surgery center and conducted the EUROSPINE accreditation of this center in 2022. He became an associate professor in March 2022 and started working in Ulus Liv Hospital, department of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology, Liv Spine Center, from July 2022 until now as a surgeon and also as the research coordinator of the department of orthopedic surgery, together with being an academician in İstinye University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology.