Academic and demographic characteristics of spine societies' presidents

There is limited information on spine society presidents' training backgrounds, academic productivity, and demographics. This is crucial because the individuals elected to this role are thought leaders and can impact the future trajectory of spine surgery. The paper characterizes the training backgrounds, academic productivity, and demographics of presidents elected to serve in 7 spine societies: Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), North American Spine Society (NASS), Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS), International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS), American Association of Neurological Surgeons Spine (AANS Spine) and International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS). This was a retrospective cohort study of 7 spine society presidents (n=156) from 2000 to 2024. The information was retrieved via society websites for the SRS (n=24), CRSR (n=25), NASS (n=25), (n=25), ISSLS (n=25), AANS Spine (n=25), and ISASS (n=23). LSRS provided their list of presidents (n=9) upon request. Training backgrounds, current academic productivity, and demographic characteristics were obtained from online curriculum vitae, academic websites and Scopus. Data collection occurred from June 19, 2024 to September 14, 2024. Most presidents (95.5%) were surgical providers (orthopedic surgeons 106/156, 67.9%; 43/156, 27.6% neurosurgeons). Only 7/156 (4.5%) were nonsurgical providers. CSRS and SRS presidents had the highest cumulative publications and H-index, respectively. The academic rank at appointment was professor for 122/156 (78.2%) presidents. Of the 156 presidents, 12.9% were MD/PhDs. There were 150/156 males (96.2%), and 122/156 were white (78.2%). Spine society presidents are mostly male orthopedic surgeons with high scholarly output. Most had the academic rank of professor. As orthopedic and neurosurgery training programs become more representative of the population, more leaders from diverse backgrounds may become future presidents of these societies.