Weill Medical College of Cornell University

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Research

Our team of physicians, nurses, therapists, and staff at the Weill Cornell Spine Center provides state-of-the-art, comprehensive, integrated care for patients with all types of spine-related conditions and injuries.

But there is more: In addition to providing care to our patients we are also dedicated to education and research. Highlights from the past year include our involvement with the Giants Football Team, the establishment of a Spinal Research Fellowship, several publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as a mission to Tanzania where we treated patients with severe spinal trauma and infections.

A few of our Research Projects:

Basic Science Research
Despite an often difficult climate for research, our Spinal Research Laboratory has been able to continue our pursuit of biological disc replacement therapies for degenerative disc disease. This work will eventually benefit patients suffering from chronic low back and neck pain - which is one of the leading conditions resulting in pain, suffering and economic loss in our society. Together with the Biomedical Engineering Department at Cornell in Ithaca we have been able to grow intervertebral discs in vitro. Our efforts currently focus on how these engineered discs can be best implanted into the living organism. Together with our research collaborators in Ithaca, we work on using tissue bioengineering techniques for annular repair strategies in patients undergoing spinal discectomies.

Clinical Research
To advance the care of patients with pain and disorders of the spine, we conduct clinical research. Many of our patients are followed after surgery to evaluate the effectiveness of our approaches and to see how these outcomes compare with other institutions. Our clinical outcomes research revolves around minimally invasive spinal surgery. Over the past year, our group has produced a number of peer-reviewed publications clearly demonstrating the direction for the future in spinal surgery. Many spinal procedures can be performed with less injury to muscle, ligaments and bone with equal or even better outcomes for our patients. Ongoing clinical multicenter trials X-Stop vs. IN-Space in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (with Synthes) Treatment of type II odontoid fractures in the elderly (with AOSpine)

We offer a research fellowship:

Research Fellowship
We accept two spinal research fellows each year. If you are interested please contact Erma Bell.

Our Training Opportunities:

Training and Education
We are conducting minimally invasive spinal surgery training courses that are attended by orthopedic and neurosurgical colleagues from around the world. Together with several other programs in the US and AOSpine we assumed the task of developing a neurosurgical and spinal surgery training program in Tanzania, one of the poorest countries in the world with currently only two neurosurgeons per 40 million people.