Spine Universe Editorial Board

Robert E. Isaacs, MD

Director of Spine Surgery
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC
(919) 668-5241
Dr. Isaacs is a neurosurgeon currently serving as the Director of Spine Surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He formally served as the Fellowship Director and Head of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Florida Spine Institute.

Dr Isaacs is an innovator and a leading expert in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Fellowship-trained in both Complex as well as Endoscopic Spine Surgery, Dr. Isaacs has performed hundreds of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgeries. He trains physicians across the country in complex spinal surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery, minimally invasive spinal fusion and thoracoscopic spine surgery.

Dr. Isaacs received his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas. He went on to complete his residency in the Department of Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. During his residency, Dr. Isaacs received additional neurology training as a visiting resident at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He also completed a research fellowship in the Department of Chemical, Bio and Materials Engineering at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and a clinical spine fellowship at the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch at Rush University in Chicago, Illinois under the direction of Richard Fessler, MD PhD.

An experienced researcher, Dr. Isaacs has been involved in numerous clinical investigations focusing on such topics as advancing minimally invasive techniques for spinal surgery, image-guided surgical techniques, outcomes research for patients undergoing spinal surgery, as well as developing endoscopic techniques and less invasive approaches for spinal surgery.

Dr. Isaacs is an active member of a number of important medical organizations such as American Association of Neurological Surgeons, where he served as an abstract reviewer; the Congress of Neurological Surgeons; the Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, where he served on the Scientific Program Committee and as an abstract reviewer; and the North American Spine Society.


Robert E. Isaacs, MD is on the Spine Universe Editorial Board.

SpineUniverse articles from Robert E. Isaacs, MD