DustinJamesDonnellyMDPhD

Summary

• I have been interested in spine surgery and spinal cord injury since Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in 1995, and I became a physician and a scientist because so many people take for granted the health and well-being that they possess, and which can so suddenly be stripped away. I was accepted into the Medical Scientist Training Program at The Ohio State University, where I finished my PhD in 2011 studying the dichotomous role of the innate immune response after spinal cord injury, followed by my MD in 2013. I went on to complete my neurosurgical residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2020, where I was fortunate to work under the guidance of gifted spine surgeons, as they managed an array of spine and spinal cord pathologies. I also became re-engaged in basic science research focusing on immunomodulatory therapies for traumatic brain injury. I then completed a complex spine surgery fellowship at Duke University in June 2021, during which time I gained advanced knowledge and expertise in a variety of spine topics, including complex deformity surgery and minimally invasive techniques. I also trained with the most up-to-date technologies, including robotics. After fellowship, I joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University and the University Hospitals Health System, where I am continuing my practice in the management of patients with complex deformity, degenerative spine disease, trauma, and intrinsic and extrinsic cancers of the spine.