Renowned spine surgeon James D. Kang, M.D. has been appointed chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Most recently Dr. Kang was at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), where he was the executive vice chair for the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, the endowed chair in Orthopedic Spinal Surgery and the director of the Ferguson Laboratory Musculoskeletal Research Center for Spine Research.
James D. Kang, M.D.: New Orthopedic Chair at BWH
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“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kang, a collaborative leader, to our institution, ” said Betsy Nabel, M.D., president of Brigham and Women’s Health Care, in the September 11, 2015 news release. “He brings a depth of experience in patient care, research and teaching that will enrich our orthopedic services and benefit our patients.”
His clinical expertise is in surgical treatment of spinal stenosis stemming from degenerative cervical, thoracic, and lumbar disorders. As indicated in the news release, “His enormous contributions to excellent clinical care and cutting-edge scientific work have been recognized by several leading spine societies, including the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, where he was just installed as president, the Cervical Spine Research Society and the North American Spine Society.”
Dr. Kang earned his M.D. at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a spine surgery fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Asked about how he will proceed, Dr. Kang told OTW, “I will be meeting individually with all the clinical and research faculty to articulate my vision for the department. I will also try to understand each faculty member’s aspirations and career goals to allow for synergy with the departmental vision.”
As for his vision of the future, he noted, “I would like to see a strong foundational seed having been established in the basic science and clinical outcomes research arena. Along with growth in the clinical venture in all divisions, I envision a close collaborative atmosphere between the clinicians and the research faculty to carry out state-of-the-art translational research.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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