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Kern Singh, MD

Professor
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, RUSH Medical College
Co-Director, Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Rush
Education

MD, Jefferson Medical College

Research Areas

Minimally invasive spine surgery, clinical outcomes, cost effectiveness, return to sport, functional outcomes

Contact Info:

1611 W. Harrison St.
Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (877) 891-8234
Fax: (708) 492-5373
kern.singh@rushortho.com
Links:
Biography

Singh has dedicated his career to pioneering minimally invasive outpatient spinal surgery. He is co-director of the Minimally Invasive Spinal Institute at Rush. Singh is an award-winning researcher and has published his findings in major medical journals (more than 200 publications, presentations and book chapters). He most recently won awards for his research including Best Paper at the North American Spine Society and Society of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery International Meetings in 2013. He is also the principal researcher in several FDA clinical trials involving cervical disc replacements and motion-preserving spinal technology.

Singh is listed in Becker's Orthopedic Spine and Pain Management as one of the nation's Top 100 spine surgeons and specialists. He was also awarded the Top 10 Doctor Award, Most Compassionate Doctor, and Patient's Choice Award from Vitals.com.

Singh has an international reputation in the area of minimally invasive spinal surgery. He frequently teaches minimally invasive techniques to neurosurgeons and spinal surgeons from around the world. He has lectured at some of the finest institutions in America, such as Columbia Hospital and Yale Medical Center and across the world, in Saudi Arabia, India, Japan and Sweden. He is also extensively involved in designing new instrumentation for minimally invasive spinal surgery, for which he holds several patents.

Honors and Activities
  • Cervical Spine Research Society Travelling Fellowship, 2015
  • Becker’s Top 20 Spine Surgeon’s Leadership Award, 2015
  • Orthopaedics Today, Technology of the Year, Vital 5 Drain (Co-Founder), 2014
  • Teacher of the Year, Rush Spine Surgery Fellowship, 2013-14
  • Best Paper, The Utility of Obtaining Routine Hematologic Laboratory Values Following a Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumber Interbody Fusion. Elboghdady I, Aboushaala K, Naqvi A, Manning B, Jorgensen A, Singh K. SMISS, Miami, 2014
  • Best Paper, The Utility of Obtaining Routine Hematologic Laboratory Values Following an Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion. Elboghdady I, Aboushaala K, Naqvi A, Manning B, Jorgensen A, Singh K. CSRS, Orlando, 2014
  • Best Clinical Paper, A Peri-Operative Cost Analysis Comparing Single-Level Minimally Invasive and Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion. Nandyala S, Marques A, Fineberg S, Singh K, Society Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Las Vegas, 2014
  • Poster Tour Award, Effect of Diabetes Mellitus in Surgical Outcomes Following Anterior Cervical Spine Fusion. Nandyala S, Marques A, Singh K. AAOS, New Orleans, 2014
  • Second Place, The Incidence and Mortality Associated with Re-intubations following Anterior Cervical Fusion. Marquez-Lara A, Fineberg S, Oglesby M, Pelton M, Patel A, Singh K. Cervical Spine Research Society, Los Angeles, 2013
  • Best Clinical Paper, Comparison between Revision Surgeries for Cervical TDR and 1-2 Level ACDF from 2002-2009. Fineberg S, Oglesby M, Patel A, Singh K, NASS, New Orleans, 2013
  • Best Clinical Paper Nominated, Outcomes and Complications of Anterior and Posterior Cervical Fusion with Bone Morphogenic Protein. Marquez-Lara A, Fineberg S, Oglesby M, Pelton M, Patel A, Singh K. Cervical Spine Research Society, Los Angeles, 2013
  • Patients’ Choice Award, 2012-present
  • Most Compassionate Doctor, 2012-present
  • Becker’s Orthopedic and Spine Top 100 Spine Surgeons in America, 2011
  • Teacher of the Year, Rush Spine Surgery Fellowship, 2009-10
  • Best Clinical Paper - Factors Affecting Re-operations after ACDF within and outside of an FDA IDE Cervical TDR Trial. Singh K, Phillips FM, An HS, Goldberg EJ. NASS, Toronto, 2008
  • Alternate, North American Traveling Fellowship, 2007
  • Top E-Poster. A prospective, randomized, double blind study of the efficacy of post-operative continuous local anesthetic infusion at the iliac crest bone graft site after posterior spinal arthrodesis: A minimum of four-year follow-up. IMAST, Atlantis, Bahamas, 2007
  • First Place Resident Award, In Vitro Formation of Scaffold-Free Tissue-Engineered Cartilage by Expanded Osteoarthritic Chondrocytes using the ARC Method. Singh K, Ponnappan RK, Masuda K, An HS. U of Penn Ortho J, 2005
  • The Spine Journal Outstanding Paper Award [Clinical Science, Runner-Up], Congenital Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Controlled, Matched Cohort Radiographic Analyses. Singh K, Samartzis D, Vaccaro AR, Nassr A, Andersson GB, Yoon ST, Phillips FM, Goldberg E, An HS. SPINE J, Vol 5(6): 615-22, 2005.
  • Finalist, Basic Science Category, Smith and Nephew National Resident Research Competition, Memphis, TN. In Vitro Formation of Scaffold-free Tissue-engineered Cartilage from Expanded Osteoarthritic Human Chondrocytes stimulated by Osteogenic Protein-1 using the Alginate-Recovered-Chondrocyte Method: An Assessment of Gross Morphology and Biochemistry. Singh K, Masuda K, Ponnappan RK, Cz-Sabo G, 2004
  • Second Place, Basic Science Category, Midwest Orthopedic Research Educational Foundation, Chicago, IL. In Vitro Formation of Scaffold-free Tissue-engineered Cartilage from Expanded Osteoarthritic Human Chondrocytes stimulated by Osteogenic Protein-1 using the Alginate-Recovered-Chondrocyte Method: An Assessment of Gross Morphology and Biochemistry, 2004
  • Second Place, Basic Science Category. Rush Surgical Society, , Chicago, IL. In Vitro Formation of Scaffold-free Tissue-engineered Cartilage from Expanded Osteoarthritic Human Chondrocytes stimulated by Osteogenic Protein-1 using the Alginate-Recovered-Chondrocyte Method: An Assessment of Gross Morphology and Biochemistry, 2004
  • Best Paper, Senior Thesis Day, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery - RUMC, Chicago, IL. A Biomechanical Comparison of Spinal Instrumentation Following Multi-level Corpectomy of the Cervical Spine, 2003
  • First Place -13th Annual Rush Surgical Society, Chicago, IL. A Biomechanical Comparison of Spinal Instrumentation Following Multi-level Corpectomy of the Cervical Spine, 2003
  • Educational Grant, Third Annual Cervical Spine Study Group, Colorado Springs, CO, 2003
  • Educational Grant, Aventis Orthopedic Resident Scholarship, AAOS National Meeting, Dallas, TX, 2002
  •  Pillsbury Resident Academic Scholarship, 2002-04
Publications

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Singh+Kern%5BAuthor%5D

Grants

Phillips FM, Singh K. Repeat use of rhBMP-2 at an adjacent lumbar level: An assessment of efficacy and immunologic response. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, September 2005.

Bohl DD, Mayo BC, Ahn J, Singh K. Improvement in Grip and Pinch Strength following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Procedures. Grant from the Cervical Spine Research Society. 2015 Oct.