Spine Universe Author Biography

Dino Samartzis, DSc, PhD (C)

Dr. Dino Samartzis has been actively involved in the field of medicine/health-care and science for several years. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dino attended Loyola Academy and went on to obtain his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. Following, Dino acquired three postgraduate degrees from the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, focusing on Evidence-Based Health Care, while simultaneously pursuing an additional graduate degree as a student at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, concentrating on neuroscience, developmental biology, and spinal biomechanics. He went on to obtain a doctorate degree in clinical epidemiology from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and is currently completing a second doctorate degree in medical sciences. Dino has also pursued graduate studies in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England and has also studied at other academic institutions, such as Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.

Dino's research career in spine initially began in Chicago, Illinois at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center under the tutelage of Dr. Howard S. An. Since then, Dino has had the good fortune to have worked and studied under numerous notable scientists and orthopaedic and neurological surgeons, and maintains collaborative efforts with many institutions worldwide. Dino's interest in spine has come to entail degenerative conditions, congenital malformations, minimally-invasive spine surgery, tumors of the bony spine and spinal cord, deformities, epidemiology, design methodology and analyses, genetic factors, spinal instrumentation, biomechanics, basic science, evidence-based medicine, imaging, computer modeling, and digital spine surgery.

Being aware of the dangers of radiation effects upon human health and the abuse of radiation in the medical and occupational setting, Dino undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in radiation epidemiology. As such, he was selected and served as a Gilbert Beebe Fellow of the Radiation and Nuclear Board of the National Academies of Science in Washington D.C., the Radiation Epidemiology Branch of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan. This position involved assessing the radiation risk upon various aspects of human health stemming from a 60-year follow-up of 120,321 atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The importance of this work was on a global scale. The worldwide guidelines of radiation use largely stem from the knowledge of the atomic bomb survivors. Having spearheaded efforts to elaborate upon radiation-associated bone and soft tissue sarcomas, seminal reports have been drafted that may potentially affect radiation guidelines. In addition, Dino has led the construction of the largest reservoir worldwide in the understanding of radiation-related issues regarding spine disease and musculoskeletal conditions, and their respective radiologic and clinical findings. In addition, under the direction of Dr. Kenneth M.C. Cheung, Dino was a Visiting Spine Research Fellow at the Department of Orthopaedic & Traumatology and the Genome Research Center at the University of Hong Kong investigating various epidemiological parameters and genetic influences in the development of intervertebral disc disease and back pain.

Dino has published approximately 180 research articles, book chapters, and other educational material in peer-reviewed journals, textbooks, and/or the Internet. He has also authored, developed, and produced the largest body in the world of educational multimedia material outlining the options, methodology, and techniques of various spine surgery procedures in an effort to aid in the education of medical students, residents, fellows, and practicing physicians. Dino has also been the Editor-in-Chief and/or Section Editor for several seminal international textbooks and has served on the Editorial, Advisory, and Review Boards of over a dozen medical journals, such as SPINE, Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques, The Spine Journal, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, and the British Medical Journal. He has been an invited speaker at international medical and scientific conferences that have been held on every continent in the world and has been involved in approximately 100 presentations at international meetings. Moreover, he is an elected member of numerous orthopaedic, neurosurgical, and epidemiological organizations worldwide and has served on various committees therein. Dino has maintained ongoing, active affiliations with peers from internationally recognized centers of higher learning and is consistently involved with medical/health education through various avenues of instruction, having served as a graduate instructor at such institutions as Harvard University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Dino has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, such as nomination as a Fulbright Scholar, commendation by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), consistent inclusion in Cambridge Who's Who and Marquis Who's Who in the World/Medicine & Healthcare/Emerging Leaders, and most recently being awarded the 2008 Young Investigator Award by the SPINE journal.



SpineUniverse articles from Dino Samartzis, DSc, PhD (C)