Becker's Spine Review

30 Sign up for Becker's Orthopedic, Spine Business & Pain Management E-Weeklies at www.BeckersOrthopedicandSpine.com or call (800) 417-2035 100 Leaders Advancing the Field of Spine Surgery (continued from page 1) Howard An, MD, served as the director of spine surgery for eight years at the Medical College of Wisconsin before moving to Rush University Medical Center, where he now serves as the director of the division of spine surgery and spine fellowship program. "I am excited about the future of orthopedic and spine surgery in that the treatment options are becoming less invasive and biological or tissue engineering approach to many orthopedic conditions may become a reality, including intervertebral disc degeneration," says Dr. An. Neel Anand, MD, is the director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles. He is the treasurer with the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. "The ability to truly help someone who has been disabled with pain and see to them in the follow-up after surgery as a completely new person leading a pain free life is the most rewarding part of my job," says Dr. Anand. "I take tremendous pride in helping my patients regain a high quality of life that was taken from them because of their condition." Gordon Bell, MD, is the director of the Center for Spine Health at Cleveland Clinic, where he has been the head of the spinal surgery section since 1994. He has held leadership positions with the North American Spine Society and the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine. Edward C. Benzel, MD, is the chairman of the department of neurosurgery at Cleveland Clinic and former director of the Center for Spine Health. He is one of the founding members of the Lumbar Spine Research Society and was co-chairman of the editorial review board for the Journal of Neurosurgery. Scott Blumenthal, MD, was among the first spine surgeons to perform lumbar artificial disc replacement in the United States. He is a spine surgeon with Texas Back Institute in Plano and has been a spine consultant with the Dallas Mavericks. He is one of the leaders of TBI's Center for Disc Replacement. "The most fulfilling aspect of my career has been being the lead FDA investigator and performing the first artificial disc in the U.S.," says Dr. Blumenthal. "I am most excited about disc regeneration with stem cells, genetic engineering or other proteins or materials [in the future]." D. Greg Anderson, MD, is director of the spine section of the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia. He is currently the president of the Society of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, MD, is the chief of the scoliosis service at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He is also the founder and president of the Foundation of Orthopaedics and Complex Spine. He received the Humanitarian Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and has been president of the Scoliosis Research Society. Gunnar B. J. Andersson, MD, is chairman emeritus and chair of spinal deformities at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He has received the Freedom of Movement Award from the Arthritis Foundation. Scott Boden, MD, is a professor of orthopedic surgery and director of the Emory Orthopaedics & Spine Center in Atlanta. 100 Spine Surgeons Advancing the Field Todd Albert, MD, is the president of Rothman Institute and the chairman of the department of orthopedics at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals, both in Philadelphia. He is a past president of the Cervical Spine Research Society and past chair of the Meeting of Advanced Spinal Techniques for the Scoliosis Research Society. Robert Banco, MD, is a member of Boston Spine Group and previous spine section chief for New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, and on the board of directors for the American Board of Spine Surgeons. He has participated in 12 FDA IDE studies with research interests including lumbar fusions and prosthetic disc replacement. "I am convinced that there is a biological solution to many of the problems we treat surgically today," says Dr. Andersson. "I don't know whether it's going to happen in the next decade, but certainly at some point we will be able to treat degenerative disc disease and its consequences biologically. Having said that I think one has to be realistic about the effect of aging on all tissues of the body and the futility in trying to prevent indefinitely what ultimately is not preventable. If we can give people a better quality of life for more years I would be highly satisfied." Hyun Bae, MD, is the co-director of the spine fellowship program at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles. He was among the first surgeons to use growth factor tissue engineering for intervertebral discs, multi-level artificial disc replacement for both lumbar and cervical spine and other medical devices. "I am excited about continued progress in the area of second generation biologic solutions for bone regeneration and potentially first generation solutions for cartilage regeneration/repair," says Dr. Boden. "I am also excited about the opportunity to re-design a care delivery model that focuses on delivering value and service that will be required to survive in the evolving healthcare environment." Christopher Bono, MD, is the chief of spine service at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and serves as treasurer of the North American Spine Society. Dr. Bono is also a deputy editor for The Spine Journal and section editor for SpineLine. He previously chaired the evidence-based guideline development committee for NASS. Charles L. Branch, MD, is the chair of the surgical sciences-neurosurgery at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, N.C. He holds leadership positions

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