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32 Sign up for Becker's Orthopedic, Spine Business & Pain Management E-Weeklies at www.BeckersOrthopedicandSpine.com or call (800) 417-2035 Semmes-Murphy Clinic in Memphis. He is on the board of directors for the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Steven Garfin, MD, is the chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery and chief of spine surgery at UC San Diego. Dr. Garfin is the president of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. "I am excited about the opportunity to continue to work with academic and spine surgical leaders and industry innovators on new products, concepts and ideas," says Dr. Garfin. "This also leads to an unfortunate 'burden' in trying to work with insurance and government and academic spine societies in developing plans, protocols and guidelines to enhance care for spine surgery patients that will move us forward in what we can diagnose and treat." Zoher Ghogawala, MD, is director of the Wallace Trials Center at Greenwich (Conn.) Hospital and serves as principle investigator for several national clinical trials. He practices with CSI-Greenwich Neurosurgery and serves on the board of directors for the North American Spine Society. Steven D. Glassman, MD, is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Louisville (Ky.) and practices at Norton Leatherman Spine Center in Louisville. He is a member of the board of directors for the Scoliosis Research Society and has been a program chair for the North American Spine Society. Jeffrey Goldstein, MD, is the director of spine service and associate director of the spine fellowship at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases. He is on the board of directors for the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. "The most fulfilling aspect of my career bas been the opportunity to perform spine surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center Hospital for Joint Diseases with a group of some of the most accomplished spine surgeons in the world while having the privilege to care for a group of patients with a variety of spinal disorders," says Dr. Goldstein. making of what you think is best for the patient. I also felt that it was one of the last frontiers of all the orthopedic specialties in which I could make a difference through research, publishing, training fellows and lecturing." Thomas T. Haider, MD, is chief of the spine division at Riverside Country Regional Medical Center and chairman of the biomedical advisory board of UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences. He is on the board of directors for the American College of Spine Surgery. Mitch Harris, MD, is the chief of the orthopedic trauma service at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and a member of the North American Spine Society board of directors. He is also a member of the Cervical Spine Research Society and Scoliosis Research Society. Andrew Hecht, MD, is the co-director of spine surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center and director of the NFL Spine Care Program for retired players at Mount Sinai. "I am most excited by the increasing emphasis not only on minimally invasive and motion preserving procedures but on advances in the understanding of the biologic of spinal disorders such as disc degeneration," says Dr. Hecht. "Our lab continues to study basic processes involved in the pathophysicology of disc degeneration with the hope that someday this may lead to novel biologic treatments to halt or reverse the degenerative process that underlies the majority of the spinal disorders we treat." Michael Heggeness, MD, is the director of the spine surgery fellowship program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and immediate past president of the North American Spine Society. Charles R. Gordon, MD, is co-founder of the Texas Spine and Joint Hospital and founder of Gordon Spine Associates, both in Tyler. He also founded the medical device company Flexuspine and holds patents for more than four spinal devices. "I view the future with both real fear and true anticipation," says Dr. Heggeness. "I am very concerned to see how all physicians in the United States have been subjected to so many additional costs — including EMRs, e-prescribing and meaningful use — and threats (of misdirected audits), that the independent practice of medicine is rapidly disappearing. That would drastically limit choice for both doctor and patient going forward. On the other hand, I am very excited to know that molecular medicine techniques for musculoskeletal medicine will soon be a reality. This will dramatically improve many of our treatment options in the very near future." Richard Guyer, MD, is the director of the Texas Back Institute Spine Fellowship Program and founder and chairman of the board of Texas Back Institute Research Foundation. He served as president of the North American Spine Society. John G. Heller, MD, is a professor of orthopedic surgery at Emory Healthcare and on the board of directors for the Cervical Spine Research Society. He has a professional interest in spinal fusion, scoliosis and spinal tumors, among several others. "I chose spine surgery because the surgery is challenging and 'high risk' compared to other specialties in orthopedics," says Dr. Guyer. "I also enjoy the cognitive aspects of spine as it is rarely black and white with regard to decision Harry Herkowitz, MD, is the chairman and director of the section of spinal surgery and the spine surgery fellowship program at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. He has served on the executive board for the North American Spine Society. "The most fulfilling aspects of my career have been relieving severe neck and back pain and/or arm and leg pain by removing ruptured discs or bone spurs; correcting severe spinal deformities so patients can stand upright [and] stabilizing and correcting spinal fractures in patients with spinal cord injuries," says Dr. Herkowitz. "[Additionally], doing research that improves the field of spine surgery so we can improve technology [and] patient outcomes to restore their quality of life." Stephen Hochschuler, MD, is co-founder of Texas Back Institute and chairman of Texas Back Institute Holdings. He is a past president of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. "Despite significant challenges facing medicine in general, I am quite excited by potential downstream opportunities for spine," says Dr. Hochschuler. "There will be opportunities in telemedicine, physician extenders, integration of treatment, emphasis on prevention, application of nano and MEMS technology, development of biologic solutions, improvement in image guidance and robotics and more international integration." Langston Holly, MD, is an associate professor and co-chief of clinical affairs for the department of neurosurgery at UCLA Health. He is also co-director of the UCLA Spine Center and focuses on minimally invasive and image-guidance techniques. Ken Hsu, MD, is a senior spine surgeon at San Francisco Orthopaedic Surgeons and co-inventor of the X-STOP device for minimally invasive spine surgery. He was among the first spine surgeons in the western United States to use a pedicle screw and has been president of the San Francisco Orthopaedic Surgeons Medical Group. Serena Hu, MD, is a professor of clinical orthopedics at the University of California San Francisco with a clinical interest in adult scoliosis. Her research focus includes the prevention of metastatic fractures of the spine and disc degeneration. Kamal N. Ibrahim, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon with M&M Orthopaedics in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., and a president of the Scoliosis Research Society. "When I was completing my residency training and fellowship, it was a significant time for scoliosis surgery and the management of spinal deformity," says Dr. Ibrahim. "New knowledge about natural history of the disease was appearing in the literature. The long term results and problems with the traditional surgery of Harrington rods stated to be recognized. Emerging new procedures such as Cotrel-Debousset segmental system was revolutionary in the sur-