CAST Approved Spine Fellowship

The University of Louisville Department of Neurological Surgery is proud to offer our CAST Approved Spine Fellowship, a twelve-month combined research and clinical fellowship that is designed for individuals in their final years of a U.S. residency program, or have completed a U.S. neurosurgical residency and are contemplating a career or subspeciality in spinal neurosurgery. The fellow receives extensive exposure to spinal trauma, fracture management, degenerative disorders, spinal oncology, spinal deformity, spinal navigation, minimally invasive spine surgery including neuroendoscopic discectomy, cyberknife radiosurgery, and spinal cord injury management. Research opportunities include: spine outcomes research with access to Medicare, Marketscan, and many administrative databases; spinal cord injury and spinal surgery clinical databases; spinal biomechanics research; 3D printing applications in spinal surgery; Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center with many animal models of spinal cord injury; epidural stimulation research program; and porcine spinal cord injury research programs. The fellow also has access to neuromuscular, neuroimaging, neurophysiology, cardiovascular, metabolic cores in our translational spinal cord injury program. Extensive opportunities exist for clinical research supported by an infrastructure of research coordinators, statisticians, IRB and grants management, and editorial support.

Program Requirements

Interested candidates should submit their CV to:

Dr. Thomas Altstadt
Department of Neurological Surgery
University of Louisville
220 Abraham Flexner Way, 15th Floor
Louisville, KY, 40207

or send to our Fellowship Coordinator
Christie Greene
christina.greene@louisville.edu

See what Louisville, Kentucky has to offer.

Graduated Spine Fellows:

  • Nicholas Khattar, MD - 2023
  • Shawn W. Adams, MD, MS - 2022
  • Nikhil Jain, MBBS, MS - 2021