Becker's Spine Review

24 Becker's 13th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Future of Spine - call (800) 417-2035 55 Spine Surgeons on the Forefront of Biologics & Stem Cells 55 Spine Surgeons on the Forefront of Biologics & Stem Cells By Laura Dyrda Howard An, MD (Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Chicago). Dr. An's research into intervertebral disc repair or regeneration with growth factors was rec- ognized at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting with the Kappa Delta Award. He continues to research spinal biomechan- ics and tissue engineering. Neel Anand, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles). Dr. Anand's practice, Anand Spine Group, was approved as one of the nationwide centers to participate in the Phase II clinical trails for NuQu from ISTO Technologies, a therapy us- ing cartilage cells in possible disc regeneration. Dr. Anand is the director of spine trauma at Cedars Si- nai Spine Center and has been the principal investi- gator in several clinical trials. Ian Armstrong, MD (Southern California Spine Institute, Los Angeles). Dr. Armstrong is the medi- cal director of Southern California Spine Institute. Throughout his career, Dr. Armstrong has worked on several different research projects including stem cell treatment and motion preservation tech- nology. He previously served as the director of the spine program at Century City Hospital and Mid- way Hospital and is a founding member of CAST Surgical Center in Westwood, Calif. Hyun Bae, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles). Dr. Bae is director of spine education at Ce- dars-Sinai Medical Center. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Bae has spent a great deal of time research- ing stem cell repair for degenerative disc disease and the use of growth factors to treat spinal cord injuries. He was among the first to use growth factor tissue en- gineering for intervertebral discs and chaired a course in 2010 for the North American Spine Society about navigating research in spinal biologics. Scott Boden, MD (Emory Orthopaedics & Spine Center, Atlanta). Dr. Boden is director of the Emory Orthopaedics & Spine Center in Atlanta. He has at least six patents for medical devices and his research is focused on bone regeneration, spine fusion and spinal disorders. During Dr. Boden's career he has been the clinical director of The Whitesides Ortho- paedic Research Laboratory. Nicholas Boulis, MD (Emory Healthcare, At- lanta). Dr. Boulis was among the physicians who performed the first FDA-approved stem cell injec- tion into a patient's cervical spine for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment. The four-hour operation included five cervical spine injections containing a combined more than 500,000 stem cells. Dr. Boulis' research interests include biological neurorestora- tion and neuromodulation through cell, protein and gene delivery to the nervous system. Frank P. Cammisa, MD (Hospital for Special Sur- gery, New York City). Dr. Cammisa, chief of the spine service at Hospital for Special Surgery, is in- terested in autologous and synthetic biologic bone growth factors. At the Integrated Spine Research Program in the SpineCare Institute at Hospital for Special Surgery, Dr. Cammisa and his colleagues use animal models to evaluate novel materials that aid in bone growth. Ivan Cheng, MD (Stanford University Medical Cen- ter, Palo Alto, Calif.). Dr. Cheng has been conduct- ing research using stem cells for spinal cord injury for the past five years at Stanford. His research inter- ests include biologic enhancement for spinal fusions, molecular techniques of intervertebral disc regenera- tion and techniques of spinal instrumentation. Joseph Ciancci, MD (UC San Diego School of Medicine). Dr. Ciancci became the first surgeon to perform a procedure in the Phase I trial testing Neuralstem's NSI-566 human neural stem cells for chronic spinal cord injury in 2014. The procedure transplants stem cells directly into the injury re- gion. He is the chief of neurosurgery VASDHS. Domagoj Coric, MD (Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates, Charlotte, N.C.). Dr. Coric recently performed the second surgery in InVivo Therapeutics' clinical trial to treat spinal cord injury patients with stem cell technology. He was a lead investigator and author of "Prospective study of disc repair with allo- genic chondrocytes," which describes the initial clini- cal experience with a cell-based biological therapy for treating degenerative disc disease. He is the chief of neurosurgery at Carolinas Medical Center. Matthew Cunningham, MD (Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City). Dr. Cunningham has conducted research related to intervertebral disc regeneration and published literature on tissue- engineered intervertebral disc procedures to pro- duce new matrix, maintain disc height and restore biomechanical function to the rodent spine. He is working on basic and translational research to in- vestigate disc physiology with the ultimate goal to use small molecules or gene-therapy as tools to drive conversion of disc tissue into bone for pur- pose of spine fusion. Randall Dryer, MD (Central Texas Spine Insti- tute, Austin). Dr. Dryer is a spine surgeon with the Central Texas Spine Institute who focuses on treat- ment of the cervical and lumbar spine. Along with his practice, Dr. Dryer has participated in FDA- approved clinical trials and spearheaded innovative procedures, such as using adult stem cells from a patient's body to aid in tissue regeneration. Richard G. Fessler, MD (Rush University Medical Center, Chicago). Dr. Fessler was the first physician in the United States to perform a human embryonic spinal cord transplant in 1997. He has been a medi- cal specialist and flight surgeon for NASA and partici- pated in the first FDA trial to test the use of embryonic stem cells in patients with thoracic spine injuries.

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