Here are more than 35 spine surgeons who offer artificial disc replacement.
This is not an exhaustive list. If you would like to recommend a surgeon for inclusion on this list, please contact Carly Behm at cbehm@beckershealthcare.com. Surgeons are listed in alphabetical order.
Note: This article was updated June 9.
Christopher Battista, MD. Lowcountry Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine (Summerville, S.C.). Dr. Battista specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery and performs disc replacement, fusions, reconstructions and tubular decompressions. He also has training in robotic spine surgery.
Erica Bisson, MD. University of Utah Health Care (Salt Lake City). Dr. Bisson specializes in complex spine surgery with a focus on cervical spine care. She has more than 100 peer-reviewed articles.
Scott Blumenthal, MD. Texas Back Institute (Plano). Dr. Blumenthal's practice is dedicated solely to artificial disc replacement. He played a key role in bringing disc replacement to the U.S. after the technology was developed in Europe.
Robert Bray Jr., MD. DISC Sports & Spine Center (Newport Beach, Calif.). Dr. Bray established and developed the Cedars-Sinai Institute for Spinal Disorders and founded DISC Sports & Spine Center in 2006. He has been instrumental in bringing disc replacement to NHL players, including Las Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel.
Ernest Braxton, MD. Vail (Colo.) Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery. Dr. Braxton performs cervical and lumbar disc replacement, and he specializes in motion-preserving surgery. He is an Afghan war veteran and cared for complex combat injuries during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Brian Cole, MD. Englewood (N.J.) Spine Associates. Dr. Cole founded Englewood Spine Associates and has completed more than 10,000 spine procedures. He is also associate director of spine surgery at Englewood Health.
Jason Cuellar, MD, PhD. Lanman Spinal Neurosurgery (Beverly Hills, Calif.). Dr. Cuellar's practice includes artificial disc replacement, regenerative medicine and biologic injections. He is an artificial disc replacement patient himself and had the procedure done in 2019.
Harel Deutsch, MD. Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago). Dr. Deutsch joined Rush in 2003 and is co-director of Rush Spine Center. He has a special interest in failed back surgery and is involved with research on artificial disc technology.
Alexandre de Moura, MD. New York Spine Institute (Westbury). Dr. de Moura is the son of an orthopedic surgeon and became interested in the profession early in life. He earned his medical degree from Chicago Medical School and completed his residency at Temple University Medical Center in Philadelphia.
Christopher Good, MD. Virginia Spine Institute (Reston). Dr. Good is was the first surgeon in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia region to perform a two-level lubar disc replacement. He's also debuted other spine technologies in the region including the Mazor X Stealth Edition robot and combined endoscopic and robotic surgery.
Betsy Grunch, MD. Longstreet Clinic (Gainesville, Ga.). Dr. Grunch specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery and artificial disc replacement. She earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and completed her residency at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
Richard Guyer, MD. Texas Back Institute (Plano). Dr. Guyer is the co-founder of the Texas Back Institute, co-director for the Center for Disc Replacement at Texas Back Institute and director of the practice's spine fellowship program. He was instrumental in bringing artificial disc replacement to the U.S. after its use in Europe, according to the practice.
Colin Haines, MD. Virginia Spine Institute (Reston). Dr. Haines recently performed the world's first combined endoscopic and robot-guided spine surgery. The majority of his patients are treated without surgery, and when he operates, he specializes in minimally invasive techniques.
Jason Highsmith, MD. Carolina Neurosurgery and Orthopedics (Charleston, S.C). Dr. Highsmith has performed multilevel disc replacement for more than 20 years. He also has served as a principle investigator on FDA clinical trials for motion-preserving devices.
Jocelyn Idema, DO. Steel City Spine and Orthopedic Center (Pittsburgh). Dr. Idema's practice includes cervical and lumbar disc replacement, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, discectomy and kyphoplasty. She founded Steel City Spine and Orthopedic Center.
Michael Janssen, DO. Center for Spine and Orthopedics (Thornton, Colo.). Dr. Jassen founded Center for Spine and Orthopedics and was among the first surgeons in the U.S. to perform total disc replacement. He has performed more than 1,000 complex total disc replacements and trained more than 150 surgeons on the procedure.
Ehsan Jazini, MD. Virginia Spine Institute (Reston). Dr. Jazini performed the first artificial disc replacement case with the help of augmented reality. He's on the the National Research Advisory Board and the Surgeon Leader Group for HCA Healthcare and travels internationally to present research.
Ross Jones, DO. Flagstaff (Ariz.) Bone and Joint. Dr. Jones joined Flagstaff Bone & Joint in 2017, and his practice focuses on minimally invasive spine surgery. In May, he added Centinel Spine's Prodisc C SK and C Vivo disc replacement implants to his practice.
Todd Lanman, MD. Lanman Spinal Neurosurgery and the Advanced Disc Replacement Spinal Restoration Center. Dr. Lanman has been involved with multiple studies on artificial disc replacement. He has practiced in Beverly Hills for 25 years.
Alim Ladha, MD. Midland (Texas) Memorial Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Ladha is a spinal neurosurgeon and treats a variety of conditions including spinal stenosis, herniated discs and spondylolisthesis. He added the M6-C artificial disc to the practice in May.
Angel Macagno, MD. New York Spine Institute. Dr. Macagno worked in Argentina for 15 years before moving to the U.S. He also volunteers with Health Volunteers Overseas to provide spine care to patients in Nicaragua.
Rory Mayer, MD. Ascension Texas Spine and Scoliosis (Austin). Dr. Mayer specializes in adult scoliosis, spinal tumors and artificial disc replacement. He is a dual fellowship-trained neurosurgeon and previously worked at Baylor University Medical Center and Texas A&M College of Medicine in Dallas.
Rojeh Melikian, MD. DISC Sports and Spine Center. Dr. Melikian's areas of interest include disc replacement, ACDF and minimally invasive surgery. He authored more than 25 articles, textbook chapers and presentations about spine surgery.
Ali Mesiwala, MD. DISC Sports and Spine Center. Dr. Mesiwala has performed more than 2,000 cervical disc replacements since 2004 and more than 750 lumbar disc replacements, according to a DISC spokesperson. He earned his medical degree at the University of California San Francisco and completed his residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Alan Moelleken, MD. The Spine and Orthopedic Center (Santa Barbara, Calif.). Dr. Moelleken has fellowship training in neurosurgery and orthopedic spine surgery. He has presented on total disc replacement on multiple occasions.
Peter Passias, MD. New York Spine Institute. Dr. Passias is known for his work treating complex spinal deformities. He has published more than 100 original and peer reviewed articles.
Nicholas Post, MD. New York Spine Institute. Dr. Post is a neurosurgeon with expertise in brain and complex spine surgery. He is also a professor at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.
Alexandre Rasouli, MD. Rasouli Spine (Beverly Hills, Calif.). Dr. Rasouli offers cervical and lumbar artificial disc replacement. In 2007 he rose to prominence after discovering a novel method of regenerating neurons damaged by spinal cord injury using peripheral nerve transplantation.
William Reed, Jr., MD. Kansas Institute of Medicine (Lenexa). Dr. Reed has nearly two decades of experience with artificial disc replacement. He also trains other surgeons on the technique.
Timothy Roberts, MD. New York Spine Institute. Dr. Roberts has dual neurosurgery and orthopedic spine fellowship training. He focuses on minimally invasive and non-invasive spine care.
Thomas Schuler, MD. Virginia Spine Institute. Dr. Schuler is double board certified in neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. He performed the first three-level cervical disc replacement in the Mid-Atlantic region and the first M6-C disc replacement in the Washington D.C. metro region.
Lali Sekhon, MD, PhD. Reno (Nev.) Orthopedic Center. Dr. Sekhon has worked in Reno since 2005. He is active in reserach for total disc replacement, spinal implant designs, bone morphogenetic proteins and spinal cord injury.
Jessica Shellock, MD. Texas Back Institute. Dr. Shellock specializes in degenerative spine conditions with an emphasis on motion-preserving technology. She's involved with the Center for Disc Replacement and participated in multiple FDA studies evaluating devices.
Grant Shifflett, MD. DISC Sports and Spine Center. Dr. Shifflett earned his medical degree from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, and he completed his residency at Hospital For Special Surgery in New York City. He completed his first fellowship in Japan and went to Rush University in Chicago for his second fellowship.
Laura Snyder, MD. Barrow Neurological Institute (Phoenix). Dr. Snyder performs more than 100 minimally invasive spine surgeries yearly. She has worked on studies about ACDF, robotics in spine surgery and machine learning.
Cary Templin, MD. Hinsdale (Ill.) Orthopaedics. Dr. Templin specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery, including artificial disc replacement. He is a co-author for several book chapters and spine surgery textbooks.
Jason Tinley, MD. DFW Center for Spinal Disorders (Fort Worth, Texas). Dr. Tinley specializes in cervical disc replacement, spinal stenosis and minimally invasive spine surgery. He performed the first commercial case with Centinel Spine's Prodisc C Vivo.
Elizabeth Trinidad, MD. Spine & Orthopedic Specialists (West Palm Beach, Fla.). Dr. Trinidad specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery and performs cervical disc replacements. She's also a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.
John Wainwright, MD. WMC Health (Valhalla, N.Y.). Dr. Wainwright is a neurosurgeon specializing in spine care. He is one of the few U.S. spine surgeons who earned the AO Spine Global Spine diploma.
James Yue, MD. Connecticut Orthopaedics (Shelton). Dr. Yue has been an investigator on multiple clinical trials for disc replacement implants. He published more than 100 articles and abstracts, along with two spine surgery textbooks.
Jack Zigler, MD. Texas Back Institute (Plano). Dr. Zigler co-directs the Center for Disc Replacement at Texas Back Institute. He has more than 75 peer-reviewed articles on spine surgery and disc replacement.