Volker K. H. Sonntag, MD
Vice Chairman, Division of Neurological Surgery
Chief, Spine Section, Division of Neurological Surgery
Director, Neurosurgery Residency Program
Dr. Volker Sonntag is a spinal neurosurgeon who specializes in spinal disorders. His subspecialties include, but are not limited to, degenerative spine disease, spine tumors, and fractures. He received a Bachelor of Science degree at Arizona State University and his Medical Degree from the University of Arizona. He completed his neurosurgical residency at Tufts New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and is on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Association of Neurological Surgery.
In 2000 Dr. Sonntag assumed the endowed Alumni Chair for Spine Research at Barrow Neurological Institute. In 1985 he was appointed Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and was promoted to Professor of Clinical Surgery in 1989. At Barrow, he holds the positions of Vice Chairman of the Division of Neurological Surgery, Chief of the Spine Section, and Director of the Neurosurgery Residency Program.
Dr. Sonntag has received many awards for his contributions to teaching and mentoring of young neurosurgeons, an aspect of his career to which he has a strong personal commitment. At Barrow, he has received the Teacher of the Year Award seven times. In 2000 he was chosen as Mentor of the Millennium by his residents. He was also chosen as the Honored Guest for Lifetime Leadership and Mentoring to Young Neurosurgeons by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Young Neurosurgeons Committee. The Volker K. H. Sonntag Fund for research was established by the North American Spine Society in 2001 as its first named fund. In 1999 the Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves established the Volker Sonntag Fellowship Award to encourage clinical research.
Dr. Sonntag has published more than 200 articles in the neurosurgical literature and more than 60 chapters for important neurosurgical texts and has served on the review boards of several journals, including Neurosurgery and the Journal of Neurosurgery. He was the co-editor for four major textbooks and was Section Editor for the spine volume of Youman's Neurological Surgery. Dr. Sonntag has been an active member and leader in many professional neurosurgical and spine societies, including the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and North American Spine Society. In 2002 he was chosen to be the Honored Guest of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
