Dr. Fabian Sommer is an award-winning orthopedic and trauma surgeon specializing in the treatment of traumatic and degenerative spinal disorders. He holds two doctoral degrees: an M.D. from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and a Dr. Med. from the University of Munich, Germany, where he completed his surgical training. He was recruited to Weill Cornell Medicine in 2020 to lead, coordinate, and develop innovative studies related to minimally invasive spine surgery.
Dr. Sommer has great expertise in the application of emerging technologies to the surgical field, and he wrote one of his theses on this topic. His other interests include mentorship for visiting spine surgeons, residents, and students; the development of new methods of analyzing clinical outcomes after spine surgery or trauma; and the development of innovative surgical techniques to treat complex spine pathologies.
Over the past several years Dr. Sommer has organized several international spine surgical courses, including NYC-MISS (the New York City Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery course directed by Dr. Roger Härtl) and the Neurotrauma Course in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Additionally, Dr. Sommer has set up and coordinated many international collaborations between Weill Cornell Medicine and leading international universities. Dr. Sommer is deeply interested in the globalization of surgery, with the goal of improving healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. He has become a fundamental part of the Weill Cornell Medicine Neurosurgical Mission in Tanzania and supports our partner hospital on site in Dar es Salaam.
Dr. Sommer’s experience has been a key asset for our team, as he has been able to contribute to and coordinate many of our clinical research projects. He has published more than 20 articles and book chapters, and his clinical research has won multiple U.S. and international awards — including two Best Paper awards in 2022 by the renowned Safety in Spine Surgery Project, a leading conference dedicated to improving patient safety in spine surgery. (See news item about his 2022 awards.)
