Medicinal technology moves at the speed of light and doctors everywhere have to stay current as best they can. Two particularly important field are spine and neurosurgery, both of which involve high levels of expertise and complicated technology. To shed some light on the rapid changes occurring in these fields, we’ve highlighted five individuals in the field that are leading the way:
Robert S. Bray, Jr., MD (DISC Sports & Spine Center, Marina del Rey, Calif.)
A holder of more than 20 patents, Dr. Bray helped create everything from a cervical dynamic stabilization system to newly functional spinal implants. He’s also a former chief of neurosurgery for the U.S. Air Force and opened up his own practice where he’s able to foster his creative innovations.
Justin Field, MD (Desert Institute for Spine Care, Phoenix)
Developer of the expandable interbody lumbar cage called RISE, Dr. Field turned himself into one of the most recognized American Doctors. He was well-known for his compassion and doubly so, his ingenuity. His continued push in the field has established him to be pre-eminent.
Charles R. Gordon, MD (Texas Spine and Joint Hospital, Tyler)
Dr. Gordon sits at the front end of his development community, and has a varied catalog of inventions in the spinal field. He’s tackled things like articulated vertebrae implants and artificial fluid draining units – all while managing a practice, his own company (Flexuspine), and opening the Texas Spine and Joint Hospital in his home state.
Jeffrey Wang, MD (UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center, Los Angeles)
A leader at the UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center, Dr. Wang also directs the UCLA Spine Surgery Fellowship. His invention of an artificial disc has been a godsend to sufferers of spinal stenosis throughout the world. Alongside this invention, he’s been a leading voice for the Cervical Spine Research Society and acted as the editor-in-chief of the Global Spine Journal, a leading medical magazine.
Charles L. Branch, Jr., MD (Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Dr. Branch is a specialist in the field of spinal disorders and spinal tumors. He’s a well-published author and a holder of more than a dozen patents on spine technology, and he also serves as lead Professor at Wake Forest University. Notably, Dr. Branch has devoted many years of his inventive life to finding the cure for Brain Cancer and has raised much capital for research beside his many patents. Lastly, he’s also spent considerable time studying spinal disorders in children, and started the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma Research to help fight onset stenosis.
These five individuals represent a small portion of the great minds innovating in this field. As education grows and more people find themselves towards this genre of life; the measures and cures found in this industry will grow – but we’ll certainly know these pioneers laid the way.