HSS Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank P. Cammisa, Jr.

The esteemed Frank P. Cammisa, Jr., M.D., Chief Emeritus at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Spine, has been honored with the 2023 HSS Lifetime Achievement Award during the hospital’s annual Tribute Dinner held on June 5.

Dr. Cammisa, who has both driven and witnessed the evolution of spine care over the last 20+ years, has published 250 original scientific papers, has made more than 500 scientific presentations, and co-authored more than 30 chapters in medical textbooks.

“Words cannot express my gratitude in being honored as the 2023 HSS Lifetime Achievement Award recipient,” Dr. Cammisa told OTW. “By definition, this award marks the passage of time and dedication not only to HSS but also to the patient community that we serve. There is also great pride in reflecting on the growth of the HSS Spine Service over the past three decades.”

“As Chief of the Spine Service for 20 years, I hope that my leadership has contributed to the strength of the program and the hospital. Leadership is a skill of listening, encouraging, and supporting others so that we can achieve more than we could alone. The significance of the award to me is that others believe that I have positively contributed.”

An Attending Surgeon at HSS Spine and Professor of Clinical Surgery at Weill Medical College, Cornell University, Dr. Cammisa is also well-known in the sports arena. He is on the Medical Staff of the New York Giants and is a consultant in spinal surgery to the National Hockey League Players Association and the New York Knicks. His legacy of leadership also includes having trained more than 120 clinical fellows that are now working around the globe.

Reflecting on the last 20 years, Dr. Cammisa told OTW, “The impact of the research conducted over the past two decades on the spine care we can provide to patients is monumental. In addition, the most successful approach to translational research has changed to focused collaborative surgeon-scientist teams. In 2009, I founded the Integrated Spine Research Program at HSS to build substantial research platforms and recruited a scientist, Celeste Abjornson, Ph.D., to direct this effort with me towards collaborative projects with the spine surgeons.”

“The four main research platforms I have witnessed with the most consequential advances are: motion preservation, biologics, additive manufacturing, and navigation/robotics.”

“Through decades of research, motion preservation, mainly total disc replacements (TDR) for the cervical and lumbar spine, has matured into a standard of care for many spine patients. With countless designs, biomechanical studies, and Level 1 clinical trials, TDR has forever shifted the approach to the treatment of degenerative disc disease.”

“Biologics, once only thought of as autograft or allograft bone grafts, has developed into vast grafting options from recombinant proteins to highly engineered allograft synthetic combinations. However, biologics in spine today is far greater than just bone grafting. Biologic technologies such as anti-microbial treatments applied directly to spinal instrumentation and injectable protein therapies towards disc regeneration are at the forefront of translating from research to clinical care.”

“Although not exactly a biologic, the advancements over the past decade to bring additive manufacturing, three-dimensional printing, to spinal implants has allowed greater surface morphologies to our implants to bridge the mechanical and biologic responses of the implant surface.”

From Grease Pencils to Robots

“Finally, clearly the most disruptive change in spine care has been the research and developing technologies of navigation and robotics in spinal surgery. We can perform surgical approaches with highly accurate, more minimally invasive techniques than we would have ever thought to be possible just a decade ago. When I began my career, we used radiographs and grease pencils to develop our surgical plan. Today, with robotics, I am able to pre-plan complex cases addressing deformities, instabilities, and neural compression.”

Hope – and Pause – for the Future of Spine Care

“The future of spine care is extremely bright. I believe the spine community is driven by evidence-based research and development towards earlier, less invasive options for patients.”

“Spine care is now a comprehensive, multi-discipline approach with physiatry, neurology, anesthesia, pain management, and other specialties to not only relieve pain but to restore function.”

“The focus today is much more driven towards quality-of-life measures and getting patients back to their daily lives. My pause would be that I believe patients still have trouble navigating to find quality spine care for their conditions. We need to find better ways to outreach into communities so patients can get earlier and effective care.”

OTW asked about the rise in publications on how patients’ psychology can affect orthopedic surgery, to which Dr. Cammisa replied, “Often the focus of surgery is on the patient’s clinical, primarily, physical outcomes such as how far the patient can walk and perform activities of daily living.”

“However, in collaboration with Carol Mancuso, M.D., and others at HSS, we have focused on the patient’s expectations prior to surgery. Setting realistic expectations and clearly discussing the goals pre-operatively of surgery, we have shown this can have far greater positive effects post-operatively on mental and physical outcomes. In addition, we have developed extensive pain management protocols with our pain management colleagues to reduce the need for opioids and get patients moving sooner. It is my belief that positive clinical outcomes begin with a well-informed, confident outlook prior to surgery.”