Spine Universe Author Biography

Dr. Pracyk is a neurological surgeon who completed a postgraduate fellowship in Complex Spine in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Iowa. He is also an experienced basic science investigator with a considerable background in cellular signal transduction as it pertains to growth and development. In addition, he has experience administering clinical outcomes research.

Dr. Pracyk concurrently received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Duke University School of Medicine. Upon concluding his doctoral work in the Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, he was awarded a Davison Fellowship to study at Cambridge University, in England. He received his General Surgery clinical training at Parkland Hospital/University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He received his Neurosurgical training at Duke University and The George Washington University, in Washington D.C. In addition to his postgraduate medical education, Dr. Pracyk was competitively awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Pracyk has also served a number of academic appointments including Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas and as a Fellow/Staff Associate in the Department of Neurosurgery at The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.

Dr. Pracyk has presented at numerous clinical and research society meetings here in the U.S., and has been an invited speaker internationally at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England and The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England.

His uniformed service experience includes serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service and the U.S. Public Health Service Reserve. He is also a member of the American Medical Association, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and has been elected into the Sigma Xi Research Society.

SpineUniverse articles from John B. Pracyk, MD, PhD

• Relieving Back and Neck Pain in Those Hard to Reach Places
  One of the most common causes of back and neck pain is excessive physical demands on the back. A surprisingly easy to use device called the Thera Cane is available to self-apply deep pressure massage to areas difficult to reach.