Spine Fellowship
Brief overview of the Spine Fellowship program
Spine Fellowships in the UVA Department of Neurosurgery are accredited by the Society of Neurological Surgeons Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training (CAST). The fellowship is 12 months in duration and is structured into rotation blocks that collectively provide a broad exposure to outpatient and inpatient care of patients with spinal disorders, from focal disc herniations to complex deformity reconstructions. Fellows are involved in the evaluation of patients in the outpatient clinical setting and all aspects of surgical and post-operative care. Opportunities for research with UVA spine faculty are abundant, and fellows are encouraged to submit at least one first-author spine-related abstract to a major meeting and to submit for publication in a peer-reviewed journal at least one first-author manuscript. Fellows are also encouraged to be actively involved in a variety of research studies and to take an active role in selecting and presenting cases for discussion at weekly conferences.
Accepting applications for 2024-25 and beyond, please contact
Fellowship Director: Dr. Justin Smith
Coordinator: Karen Saulle, kes4a@virginia.edu, 434-982-3244
Fellows by Year
Tolga Sursal
Elias Elias
Bruno Lazaro
Juan Pablo Sardi
Ulas Yener, Neuro-oncology Fellow, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Buell, Spine Neurosurgery Fellowship, Duke University, Durham, NC
Saikiran Murthy, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone, Long Island, NY
James Nguyen, Neurosurgeon, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank, CA
Peter Christiansen, Neurosurgeon, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, San Diego, CA
Juanita Garces, Neurosurgeon, Huntington, WV
Marcus Mazur, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Jeffrey Mullin, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
John Quinn, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Texas, Houston, TX
Avery Buchholz, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Durga Sure, Neurosurgeon, Essentia Health, Duluth, MN
Michael LaBagnara, Neurosurgeon, Semmes-Murphey Neurological and Spine Institute, Memphis, TN
Tamir Ailon, Neurosurgeon, Spine Surgery Institute at Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC
Abbas Bahari, Neurosurgeon, Southern California Center for Neuroscience and Spine, Los Angeles, CA
John Kelleher, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA
David Ibrahimi, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore
Manish Singh, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Tulane Medical Center, New Orleans, LA
Manish Kasliwal, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals of Cleveland
Clint Burkett, Neurosurgeon, Neurological Surgery Associates, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Kaiming Fu, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Cornell University, New York
Josh Heller, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia
Kojo Hamilton, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Charles Sansur, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore