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

 2022 - 2023 Spine Fellow

Nicolas K. Khattar, MD

Nicolas "Nick" Khattar joined the University of Louisville Department of Neurological Surgery residency program in July 2016. He received his undergraduate degree in General Biology with distinction in 2009, and then graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in May 2013 from the American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine.

During his undergraduate training, Dr. Khattar was the recipient of the Near East and Southeast Asia scholarship sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, which he spent in Greenville, South Carolina. During medical school, he was the recipient of the Philippe Jabr Foundation, the Nicholas Saab Foundation as well as the Alexis and Anne-Marie Habib Foundation academic scholarships. He was also involved in the local chapter of the Medical Student Association in Beirut (LeMSIC) as well as the International Federation of Medical Students' Association (IFMSA). During his time, he was chosen to represent the voice of advocacy for medical students worldwide as a delegate to the 64th World Health Assembly at the Palais des Nations-United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Interested candidates should submit their CV to:

Maxwell Boakye, MD MPH, MBA FACS, FAANS
Chief of Spinal Neurosurgery
Department of Neurological Surgery
University of Louisville
220 Abraham Flexner Way, 15th Floor
Louisville, KY, 40207
Max.boakye@louisville.edu

See what Louisville, Kentucky has to offer.

Graduated Spine Fellows:

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