Endoscopic spine surgery — once a niche technique practiced by a small handful of early adopters — is rapidly becoming a mainstream option for treating herniated discs, spinal stenosis and other degenerative conditions. Using a camera-equipped scope threaded through an incision often smaller than a centimeter, surgeons can now decompress and, increasingly, fuse the spine with minimal muscle disruption, less blood loss and faster recovery times than traditional open or even standard minimally invasive approaches.
Adoption in the U.S. has lagged behind South Korea and Germany, where the technique was refined over the last two decades, but that gap is closing fast. Academic medical centers are standing up dedicated endoscopic spine programs, biportal techniques are expanding what the scope can treat and a new generation of fellowship-trained surgeons is pushing the technique into fusion, deformity and revision cases once thought to require open surgery.
The following 20 surgeons stand out for their clinical volume, program leadership and contributions to advancing endoscopic technique in the U.S.
Editor’s note: This is not a comprehensive or ranked list. Becker’s does not endorse any individual featured. To nominate a physician for a future list, contact hbosek@beckershealthcare.com.
- Jang Won “Jon” Yoon, MD. UCSF Health (San Francisco).
Dr. Yoon is director of the minimally invasive spine surgery program at UCSF, where he joined the department of neurological surgery to advance endoscopic technique and AI-driven outcomes research. He trained in neurosurgery at Mayo Clinic and completed a complex spine fellowship at the University of Miami. His research focuses on using smartphone-tracked motion data and machine learning to predict surgical outcomes.
- Michael Jensen, MD, PhD. Stanford (Calif.) Health Care .
Dr. Jensen is director of endoscopic spine surgery in Stanford University School of Medicine’s department of neurosurgery, with more than 2,000 minimally invasive and endoscopic procedures performed. He works with the Endoscopic Spine Research Group to improve pain control and functional recovery after surgery, and his research spans health economics and predictive modeling in spine care.
- Kern Singh, MD. Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago).
Dr. Singh is director of the division of spine surgery and vice chair of clinical affairs in Rush’s department of orthopedic surgery. He is one of a small number of U.S. surgeons specializing in endoscopic spine surgery and is heavily involved in designing minimally invasive spinal instrumentation and lecturing internationally on the technique.
- Kai-Uwe Lewandrowski, MD. Center for Advanced Spine Care of Southern Arizona (Tucson).
Dr. Lewandrowski has practiced endoscopic spinal surgery since 2006 and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and 15 textbooks on the technique, ranking among the field’s most prolific researchers. He founded the Center for Advanced Spine Care of Southern Arizona, holds academic appointments in Brazil and Colombia, and trains surgeons internationally on spinal endoscopy.
- Jian Shen, MD, PhD. enVision Spine Surgery (Latham, N.Y.).
Dr. Shen has performed more than 5,000 endoscopic spine surgeries across the lumbar, cervical and thoracic spine, among the highest volumes in the Western Hemisphere. He won the Parviz Kambin Award in 2019, the field’s top honor, for his contributions to endoscopic spine surgery.
- Samuel Joseph Jr., MD. Joseph Spine Institute (Tampa, Fla.).
Dr. Joseph is a fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon known for pioneering minimally invasive, outpatient spine techniques, including endoscopic and robotic-assisted procedures. He also serves as team spine surgeon for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has a national reputation for revision spine surgery.
- Colin Haines, MD. Virginia Spine Institute (Reston).
Dr. Haines is director of research at Virginia Spine Institute and was named to the National Spine Health Foundation’s Top 50 Spine Surgeons in the Nation. He has been part of the institute’s work on national firsts in spine surgery, including advances in endoscopic technique.
- Ehsan Jazini, MD. Virginia Spine Institute (Reston).
Dr. Jazini is a spine surgeon at Virginia Spine Institute and a member of the National Spine Health Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Board, recognized alongside his colleagues for pioneering work that includes endoscopic spine surgery.
- Ibrahim Hussain, MD. Weill Cornell Medicine/Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian (New York City).
Dr. Hussain is part of the faculty carrying forward Weill Cornell’s Endoscopic Spine Surgery Program, treating patients with minimally invasive techniques through incisions less than a quarter-inch long following the retirement of program founder, Eric Elowitz, MD.
- Choll Kim, MD, PhD. Excel Spine Center (San Diego).
Dr. Kim is founder and past president of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and founder of Minimally Invasive Spine Centers of Excellence. He is among a small group of surgeons worldwide who have mastered laser endoscopic spine surgery and has served on the FDA’s Orthopedic Devices Panel.
- Don Park, MD. UCI Health (Orange, Calif.).
Dr. Park is a professor of orthopedic surgery and director of minimally invasive spine surgery at UCI Health. He has discussed how biportal endoscopic technique is reshaping outpatient spine care and has explored augmented reality and AI as adjuncts to endoscopic lumbar fusion.
- Jason Pittman, MD, PhD. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston).
Dr. Pittman specializes in biportal endoscopic lumbar surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, offering the advanced two-portal technique for spinal stenosis and herniated discs, an approach still available at only a limited number of U.S. medical centers.
- Sheeraz Qureshi, MD. Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City).
Dr. Qureshi is co-chief of HSS Spine and holds the Patty and Jay Baker Chair in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. He performs nearly 300 minimally invasive procedures annually, including endoscopic microdiscectomy, and has trained visiting surgeons from around the world in his operating room.
- Albert Telfeian, MD, PhD. Endoscopic Spine Institute of New York (New York City).
Dr. Telfeian has been described as the most published surgeon in the U.S. in endoscopic spine surgery and was ranked among the world’s top five most productive authors in the full-endoscopic field. A former professor and vice chairman at Brown University, he received the Parviz Kambin Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
- Alden Newcomb, MD. Houston Methodist Leading Medicine (Houston).
Dr. Newcomb is an orthopedic spine surgeon offering endoscopic, robotic-assisted and 3D-navigated spine surgery, including biportal endoscopic technique for herniated discs, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease.
- Charla Fischer, MD. NYU Langone Health (New York City).
Dr. Fischer specializes in minimally invasive and endoscopic spine surgery for degenerative lumbar and cervical conditions. She serves as spine division director of quality and patient safety at NYU Langone and is recognized for her work advancing endoscopic microdiscectomy and robotic-assisted technique.
- Saqib Hasan, MD. Webster Orthopedics (Oakland, Calif.).
Dr. Hasan is the first fellowship-trained full-endoscopic spine surgeon in the U.S. and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts and textbooks on the technique.
- Daniel Hanson, MD. Minnesota Spine Institute (Roseville, Minn.).
Dr. Hanson is one of the first surgeons in Minnesota to specialize in endoscopic spine surgery, bringing the technique to a region where it remains rare.
- Xiaofei “Sophie” Zhou, MD. University Hospitals (Cleveland).
Dr. Zhou brought endoscopic spine tools to University Hospitals and performed the system’s first endoscopic discectomy in 2025. She is the only female spine neurosurgeon in the health system and serves as associate program director of its neurosurgical residency.
- Michael Wang, MD. University of Miami Health System (Miami).
Dr. Wang is chief of neurosurgery at University of Miami Hospital and the Miller School’s spine fellowship director, where he leads a minimally invasive spine program known for awake endoscopic lumbar fusion. He is a past president of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and has published extensively on thoracic and lumbar endoscopic technique.
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