Safdar N. Khan MD

As a spine surgeon, Dr Khan takes care of patients with all conditions affecting the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine including complex degenerative conditions as well as adult and pediatric advanced deformity, which is his area of interest. Prior to clinical orthopaedics and spine surgery, Dr Khan spent nearly 4 years investigating the complexity of spine surgery by performing bench-top and clinical research at the prestigious Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City in the Spine Service under the tutelage of Harvinder S. Sandhu, MD and Joseph M. Lane, MD. One of the highlights of his time in research was to investigate the biology of spinal fusions and the role of growth factors and commonly used medications on spinal fusion.

Khan was followed by a 6 year residency in orthopaedic surgery with a research year built in at the University of California, Davis. There with his mentor Mark Lee, MD, he was the first to identify adipokines (fat-derived cytokines) as playing a significant role in fracture repair during his research year. His residency was followed by an adult and pediatric complex spine fellowship at the prestigious Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Thereafter Dr Khan was recruited to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to develop a spine service in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.