Advisory Board

Hyun W. Bae, M.D. is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive microsurgery and in the treatment of cervical and lumbar spinal disease at The Spine Institute at Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, CA. Dr. Bae began his medical studies at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences where he graduated with a degree in biomechanics. He then went on to earn his medical degree, cum laude, at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Bae completed his surgical internship at North Shore University Hospital and his orthopaedic surgical residency at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He completed his spine fellowship at Case Western Hospital in Cleveland. Dr. Bae has written numerous articles based on his research and has presented on new techniques in Spine Surgery at conferences around the world.

Stephen Hochschuler, M.D. is chairman and co-founder of Texas Back Institute, the largest freestanding spine specialty clinic in the United States. As a leader in spine research and one of the most influential spine surgeons in the world, Dr. Hochschuler received the George Kozmetsky Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society for Design and Process Science in 1996. He is a clinical instructor in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, and the author of spinal health books and numerous research papers published in international spine journals. He is a founding member of the American Board of Spinal Surgery and the Spine Arthroplasty Society, where he is also a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Hochschuler received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and performed his general surgery residency at Harvard Surgical Service, Boston City Hospital, and his orthopedic surgical residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Jeff Lotz, Ph.D. is the Professor and Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco and is widely considered one of the true luminaries in the field of spine research. Jeff Lotz graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1979. He went on to receive a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering Design from Stanford University in 1980. Jeff entered the doctoral program in Medical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Harvard Division of Health Science and Technology graduating in 1988. Dr. Lotz’s Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory takes a unique, multidisciplinary approach to understanding the complex interrelationships between the biologic tissues of the spine and the mechanical stresses and forces that can injure it.

Wayne Olan, M.D., is the Director of Neuroradiology and MRI Services at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. He completed his medical education at the University of Health Science of the Chicago Medical School and his residency at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, an Albert Einstein-affiliated hospital in New York. Prior to joining Suburban Hospital in 1998, he served as Chief of the Neuroradiology Section at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC. He continues as a clinical associate professor of radiology and neurological surgery at George Washington University and also serves as a consulting physician for the Department of Radiology/Section of Neuroradiology at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Olan is an active Member of the American Society of Neuroradiology and the American Society of Spine Radiology and a frequent publisher, lecturer, and teacher of new techniques in spine intervention.

Martin MacPhee, Ph.D. was formerly the Principal Investigator for Fibrin Sealant and Supplemented Fibrin Sealant, American Red Cross at the Jerome H. Holland Laboratory for the Biomedical Sciences. Dr. MacPhee was the key scientist responsible for numerous inventions to control life-threatening hemorrhage, including Fibrin Sealant Powder, Foam and the Fibrin Sealant Dressing, which was deployed with American troops overseas. An internationally renowned expert on homeostasis, drug delivery, and fibrin sealants, Dr. MacPhee has chaired or co-chaired a number of conferences in the U.S. and abroad on the subject of emerging applications of fibrin sealant, and has also been invited to lecture widely on this topic. Dr. MacPhee received his B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo and his Ph.D. from the Department of Surgery at McGill University, where he was a Fellow of the Royal Victoria Hospital Research Institute. He subsequently received a Fogerty International Fellowship, which he spent at the National Cancer Institute in the U.S. before joining the American Red Cross in 1992. Dr. MacPhee is the inventor of dozens of patents in the areas of homeostasis and local delivery of biologics and drugs, and pioneered the sustained delivery of drugs from tissue sealants. He is the author of over 50 scientific publications and book chapters and his inventions were recognized with the Frost & Sullivan Market Engineering Award Product Innovation Awards in 1998 and 2004 and the 'Best of What's New' Award by Popular Science in 1999.

Kevin Pauza, M.D. is a physician specializing in interventional spine pain management and is a founder of Texas Spine and Joint Hospital in Tyler, Texas. He earned two degrees with honors from Lehigh University and a medical degree from Penn State University. Subsequently he completed a Surgical and Medical internship at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He finished his specialty training at the University of Pennsylvania and is Board Certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. His emphasis is on the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of back and neck pain and he conducts ongoing research in the field for publication. Dr. Pauza has developed a spine fellowship program and continues to train physicians throughout the United States. In addition to lecturing nationally, researching, and publishing, Dr. Pauza heads several international committees responsible for establishing standards and educating physicians about the newest methods of spinal treatment.

Ralph F. Rashbaum, M.D. is a founding member of the Texas Back Institute, Plano, Texas, which is one of the world’s leading providers of back pain treatment. Dr. Rashbaum is an orthopedic surgeon and has been practicing medicine for almost 40 years. He earned his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School and completed his orthopedic surgery residencey at Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Rashbaum went on to complete a spinal cord injury fellowship at Wade Park VA Hospital in Cleveland, OH and a spine fellowship at The Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr Rashbaum is considered a pioneer in back surgery, pain management and innovative medical treatments aimed at helping patients with back pain. Dr. Rashbaum has run some of the first fellowship training programs for spine and is committed to furthering the science and research of pain treatment for patients. He regularly publishes and presents on his research, traveling throughout the world to share his passion for helping patients to manage their back pain.

Way Yin, M.D. is the Medical Director and Founder of Interventional Medical Associates of Bellingham in Bellingham, Washington. Dr. Yin is a leading expert in minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for spine related pain problems. He has developed new and successful techniques to treat sacroiliac joint disorders, cervicogenic headaches, and thoracic spine pain. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, and lectures worldwide on topics related to the field. Dr. Yin is active in basic and clinical research on various spine pain topics. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of Washington's Department of Anesthesia in Seattle. Dr. Yin received his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York City and trained in General Surgery and Anesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is Board certified in Pain Management, Pain Medicine, and Anesthesiology.