Here are 10 early-career spine surgeons making news:
Editor's note: If you'd like to nominate a spine surgeon, please contact Paige Haeffele at phaeffele@beckershealthcare.com. Physicians are listed in alphabetical order.
Nitin Agarwal, MD. Dr. Agarwal serves as director of minimally invasive spine and robotics surgery and an associate professor of neurological surgery at UPMC. Dr. Agarwal received his medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark. Afterward, he completed his neurological surgery residency at UPMC. During this time, he also completed an enfolded fellowship in sports medicine as well as in minimally invasive and complex spine surgery. He then completed an AO Spine and Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training-approved minimally invasive and complex spine surgery fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. He was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.
Peter Derman, MD. Dr. Derman is a minimally invasive and endoscopic spine surgeon at Texas Back Institute in Plano. He graduated with honors from Stanford (Calif.) University after completing a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences. He received his medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and concurrently obtained an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Dr. Derman attended the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City for his residency and completed his fellowship in spine surgery from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He serves on the Young Surgeons Committee of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.
Brandon Hirsch, MD. Dr. Hirsch serves as an orthopedic spine surgeon at The CORE Institute in Phoenix. He specializes in the minimally invasive treatment of complex degenerative disorders of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. Dr. Hirsch completed fellowship programs in orthopedic spine surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases. Prior to his fellowship training, Dr. Hirsch completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and the University of Miami Health System. Dr. Hirsch earned his medical degree from Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., where he graduated with the Farr Scholar Award for Excellence in Research. He serves on the Young Surgeons Committee of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.
Justin Iorio, MD. Dr. Iorio is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in the management of complicated spinal deformities, degenerative and arthritic conditions, infections, trauma and fractures. He earned his medical degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., and completed an orthopedic residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Iorio has completed a fellowship in spinal surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, where he was accepted into the Cobb Fellowship, which focuses on the treatment of scoliosis. He was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.
Sravisht Iyer, MD. Dr. Iyer is a spine surgeon specializing in the application of minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat and manage spinal conditions involving the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spines. He completed his undergraduate training in biomedical engineering at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, where he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi honor society. He subsequently attended Boston-based Harvard Medical School, where he earned his medical degree with honors and a specialized degree in health sciences in technology. He completed his orthopedic residency at HSS followed by fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Iyer has also had the opportunity to travel internationally to learn specialized techniques in spinal surgery in Accra, Ghana. He serves on the Young Surgeons Committee of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.
Philip Louie, MD. Dr. Louie is a spine surgeon at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle, where he is the medical director of research and academics for the Center of Neurosciences and Spine. He also serves as the COO and co-founder of STREAMD, which builds artificial intelligence-powered physician chatbots. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration and medical degree at the University of Washington in Seattle. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Rush University Medical Center with Midwest Orthopaedics in Chicago. He was a founding member of the International Spine Research & Innovation Initiative. He was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.
Adele Meron, MD. Dr. Meron serves as a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the University of Colorado and UCHealth Spine Center in Aurora, Colo. She studied biomedical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in Troy, N.Y. At Boulder-based University of Colorado, Dr. Meron is involved with the spine and musculoskeletal curriculum in the residency program. She was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.
Samuel Overley, MD. Dr. Overley specializes in surgical and nonsurgical treatment for a variety of spinal conditions, including cervical, thoracic and lumbar problems as well as spine tumors and trauma. His mentorship from both neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons has given him experience in treating a wide range of spinal conditions as well as performing minimally invasive spine surgery. He was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.
Vivek Sindhi, MD. Dr. Sindhi is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and interventional pain medicine. He completed two highly competitive fellowship training years in interventional spine and musculoskeletal medicine in the orthopedics department at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and in interventional pain medicine in the anesthesiology department at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and now runs a private practice called the Spine and Joint Institute in Glen Burnie, Md. He was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.
Michael Steinhaus, MD. Dr. Steinhaus serves as a spine surgeon based in Salt Lake City. He specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. He completed his undergraduate studies at Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University followed by medical school at New York City-based Columbia University. He completed his residency and fellowship training at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He has published extensively in the field of spine and orthopedics with more than 100 published pieces. He was honored on the North American Spine Society's "20 under 40" list for 2022.