Here are 10 surgeons that made notable strides in clinical innovation and leadership in 2025, as reported by Becker’s:
1. Alex Vaccaro, MD, PhD, and Paul Celestre, MD, became the first surgeons to use Spine Wave’s new Testa TP pivoting spacer system, a newly released non-expanding, 3D-printed titanium device for transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.
2. Ehsan Jazini, MD, completed the first two-level lumbar disc replacement combined with the TOPS spine system at Reston (Va.) Hospital. The milestone case restored the patient’s height and mobility using a 360-degree reconstructive approach following previous spinal fusion.
3. Benjamin Weisenthal, MD, of Knoxville (Tenn.) Orthopaedic Clinic became the first surgeon in East Tennessee to perform endoscopic spine surgery. He has completed more than two dozen procedures at the practice’s surgery center, offering patients an “ultra-minimally invasive” option.
4. Kornelis Poelstra, MD, PhD, performed the world’s first spine surgery using the first FDA-cleared multi-arm, navigation-based robotic system at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas. The platform aims to enhance precision and reduce operating and recovery time.
5. Norio Fukami, MD, performed the first procedure in EndoQuest’s endoluminal surgery trial: Dr. Fukami, a gastroenterologist at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has completed the first procedure in EndoQuest Robotics’ U.S. trial of its endoluminal surgical system.
6. Mohamad Eloubeidi, MD, director of endoscopy at Anniston-based Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center and president of the Alabama Gastroenterology Society, led the state’s first advanced EUS-guided biopsy procedure using a device that delivers larger, higher-quality tissue samples.
7. Surgeons Kiran Dhanireddy, MD and Gundars Katlaps, MD, of Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital, partnered with USF Health, also in Tampa, to perform the world’s first recorded bloodless heart-liver transplant.
7. Jeffrey Clark, MD, became the first and only surgeon in Iowa to use Stryker’s Mako 4 robot for a procedure. The surgery was performed at Charles City, Iowa-based Floyd County Medical Center.
8. Patrick Peavy, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Birmingham-based OrthoAlabama Spine & Sports, performed the first Oxford Cementless Partial Knee replacement surgery in Alabama.
