Munish C. Gupta, MD, has been appointed professor and chief of spine surgery in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Currently, Gupta is a professor and vice chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, chief of orthopaedic spine surgery and co-director of the spine center at the University of California, Davis. He also is director of spine surgery at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Northern California. He will assume his new duties Sept. 1.
“Munish Gupta is a nationally and internationally known leader in spinal surgery and research, and we are excited he will be joining our faculty,” said Regis J. O’Keefe, MD, PhD, head of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University. “I believe he will allow our department to continue to grow and to maintain one of the best spine-care groups in the world. In fact, Dr. Gupta already has begun working collaboratively with leaders in the Department of Neurosurgery to develop an integrated Spine Center at Washington University that will serve as a national model.”
Gupta succeeds Lawrence G. Lenke, MD, the Jerome J. Gilden, MD, Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Gupta received his medical degree from Northwestern University in 1986 after completing a combined BA/MD honors program in medical education. After an internship and residency at Northwestern, he completed a fellowship in spinal surgery in 1992 at the Norton Leatherman Spine Center, which is affiliated with the University of Louisville.
Following his fellowship, he became a clinical instructor at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine and also practiced at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. In 1997, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis, where he built a surgical practice performing complex reconstructive surgery to correct pediatric and adult spinal deformities.
He provides surgical treatment for children and adults with various spinal deformities, such as scoliosis, kyphosis, spondylolisthesis and flatback syndrome. At UC Davis, he taught the treatment of complex spinal deformities to many national and international spine fellows. He also is experienced in cervical spinal surgery and the treatment of tumors and traumatic spine injuries. He will perform surgery on patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children-St. Louis.
“I am very excited to join one of the top spine programs at one of the leading medical centers and orthopaedic programs in the nation,” Gupta said. “I look forward to working with the highly talented physicians at Washington University in advancing our knowledge about the spine and providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art spine care for our patients.”
Gupta is an author of more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles and more than 20 book chapters. He also conducts studies about the analysis and treatment of complex and severe spine disorders. He recently authored a textbook on complex spine cases, including a collection of current surgical techniques.
He is a member of the board of directors of the Scoliosis Research Society, treasurer of the Federation of Spine Associations, associate editor of the journal Spine Deformity, reviewer for several spine journals and a member of the North American Spine Society, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association and the American College of Surgeons.
He has participated in volunteer surgical and teaching missions to India, China, Bulgaria, Argentina, Scandinavia, Brazil, Thailand and Ghana, and he is a recipient of the city of Detroit’s Distinguished Service Award for work in West Africa. Gupta is a former teacher of the year in orthopaedics at UC Davis. The International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery recently recognized him for his work leading a multicenter study that looked at quality of life in adults after surgery for spinal deformity.
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