Center for Neurosciences & Spine Visiting Professor Lectureship

The Center for Neurosciences & Spine Visiting Professor Lectureship invites prominent physicians, scientists and thought leaders in the fields of neurology and neurosurgery to deliver a guest lecture and engage in informal round-table discussions with peers at Virginia Mason. The lectureship aims to foster communication across national and international lines to stimulate innovation, improve practice, and inspire novel clinical, research, and quality initiatives in neuroscience. Its goal is to bring to the Center for Neurosciences & Spine an exceptional senior scholar who can contribute to and enrich the community's research, education, quality and innovation endeavors.

While on site, visiting professors meet with members of the Center for Neurosciences & Spine team for the purpose of discussion and education. They do not have direct patient contact or provide clinical care of any kind. A Virginia Mason provider sponsors every visiting professor and is responsible for directing the professor’s lecture content and arranging round-table participation of mutual interest to the professor and the team. The sponsor serves as the visiting professor’s main contact point during the day of the lectureship.

The Center for Neurosciences & Spine is pleased to welcome Dr. Michael Wang as Visiting Professor on Friday, June 23, 2023.

Dr. Michael Wang is the Director of Neurosurgery at University of Miami hospital and the Spine Fellowship Director. He also serves as Professor of Neurological Surgery and Rehab Medicine at University of Miami. Dr. Wang graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology and then received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed his residency training in Neurological Surgery at the University of Southern California, and following his residency, he served as a fellow in spinal cord and spinal column surgery at the University of Miami Center for Complex Spine Surgery.

Dr. Wang has been a prolific researcher and has published over one hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, abstracts, and oral presentations. He has received both the distinguished Sanford Larson and Frank Mayfield Research Awards from the Joint Spine Section of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons. His research areas include the use of robotics in spinal surgery, resorbable spinal implants, the treatment of cervical myelopathy, and the development of new osteobiologic agents to promote spinal fusion. Dr. Wang is Board Certified in Neurological Surgery and his specialty interests include minimally invasive spine surgery, spinal cord tumors, total disc replacement, spinal reconstruction, syringomyelia, spinal cord injury, and surgery for neuropathic pain.

Save the Date
Michael Wang, MD
Friday, June 23, 7:30 a.m.
Benaroya Research Institute
1201 9th Ave, Seattle, WA

Past Center for Neurosciences & Spine Visiting Lecturers

2023
- Eric Klineberg, MD, Chief of Spine Service, University of California, Davis

2022
- Michael Kelly, MD, Director of Scoliosis and Spinal Deformities, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego
- Julianne Santarosa, MD, Spinal Access Surgeon, Surgical Elite, Texas
- Vijay Yanamadala, MD, MBA, Medical Director of Spine Quality and Surgical Optimization, Hartford Healthcare, Connecticut

2021
- Todd Albert, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York

2019
- Mark Weidenbaum, MD, Director of Spine Optimization Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital
- Dean Chou, MD, Associate Director of the Neurospine Center at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

2018
- Han Jo Kim, MD, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York
- Gregory Mundis Jr., MD, Medical Director, San Diego Center for Spinal Disorders

2017
- Marinus de Kleuver, MD, PhD, Head of Orthopedic Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- David Polly, Jr., MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Spine Service, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

2016
- Michael G. Vitale, MD, MPH, Chief, Pediatric Spine and Scoliosis Surgery, New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital
- John H. Shin, MD, Director, Stereotactic Spine Radiosurgery and Spine Metastases Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital

2015
- Louis G. Jenis, MD, Chief of Spine Surgery, Massachusetts General and Newton-Wellesley Hospitals

How to Become a Center for Neurosciences & Spine Visiting Professor

The Center for Neurosciences & Spine hosts a maximum of two visiting professor lectures per year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Invitation as a Center for Neurosciences & Spine Visiting Professor Visiting Professor is at the discretion of the Center for Neurosciences & Spine and requires:

Sponsor. Each visiting professor must be sponsored by a Virginia Mason Center for Neurosciences & Spine provider who proposes the visiting professor, contact information, content and lecture date to the Center for Neurosciences & Spine Executive Director and Administrative Director, Research and Academics. If approved, a letter of invitation is sent to the visiting professor.
CV and Photo. Upon accepting the invitation, visiting professors will be expected to provide electronic copies of their curriculum vitae and a professional photo.
Compliance. Visiting professors must comply with Virginia Mason’s Observers Policy.
Preparation. Visiting professors must arrive to Virginia Mason on the day of their appointment ready to present and engage in program activity.

For more information, please contact Kelsey Hanson, MBA, Manager, Research & Academics.