A new spine leader at a children's hospital and nine more spine surgeons to know:
Editor's note: This is not a list of top surgeons but a list highlighting professional accomplishments. Becker's does not endorse surgeons featured on this list. To nominate a surgeon for future lists, please contact Carly Behm at cbehm@beckershealthcare.com.
Dr. Ilyas Aleem. University of Michigan School of Medicine (Ann Arbor). Dr. Aleem is an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery. His clinical interests include cervical deformity, spinal trauma and myelopathy.
Mario Brkaric, MD. Indiana Spine Group (Lafayette). Dr. Brkaric's areas of expertise include spinal deformity, degenerative conditions and spinal trauma. He debuted Surgalign's artificial intelligence and augmented reality surgical guidance system, Holo Portal.
David Chang, MD. Watkins Spine (Marina del Rey, Calif.). Dr. Chang specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery, artificial disc replacement and degenerative spinal disorders. He has work experience on the East and West coasts and completed an advanced fellowship with Robert Watkins, MD, and Lytton Williams, MD.
Nancy Epstein, MD. NYU Langone Health (New York City). Dr. Epstein is chief of neurosurgical spine and education at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island. She is a past president of the Cervical Spine Research Society and publishes about 20 peer-reviewed papers each year.
Guy Fogel, MD. Spine Pain Be Gone (San Antonio). Dr. Fogel operates Spine Pain Be Gone. His services include treatment for neuropathy, arthritis of the back and neck, herniated discs, radiculopathy and sciatica.
Ahmer Ghori, MD. SpineONE (Fort Wayne, Ind.). Dr. Ghori joined SpineONE in 2016, and his clinical interests are in the cervical spine and minimally invasive surgery. He was inspired by his father, also a physician, to pursue a career in medicine.
Jeffrey A. Goldstein, MD. NYU Langone Health (New York City). Dr. Goldstein is director of NYU Langone Health's spine surgery fellowship and is a clinical professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He debuted Globus Medical's Excelsius3D spine system.
Michael Kelly, MD. Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Dr. Kelly is Rady Children's new director of scoliosis and spinal deformities. He previously worked at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was an associate professor of orthopedics, director of the spine fellowship program and director of spine research.
Kenneth Lingenfelter, DO. First State Orthopaedics (Newark, Del.). Dr. Lingenfelter is chief of orthopedic spine surgery at ChristianaCare in Newark. He offers operative and nonoperative spine treatment for adults.
Marcella Madera, MD. Auston (Texas) Integrative Spine. Dr. Madera is the only surgeon in central Texas trained on Joimax's minimally invasive technologies. She is also one of few spine surgeons in the country to offer biologic treatments using a patient's own cells for healing.