A. Watson Armour and Sarah Armour Presidential Professor of Rush University
Interim Chairperson, Department of Neurosurgery
Director, Neurosurgery Spine Service

Vincent Traynelis received his medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, where he also completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in neurosurgery. Following residency, Dr. Traynelis was a member of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Iowa for 20 years, rising to the rank of Professor. He joined the Department of Neurosurgery at Rush University Medical Center in 2009 as the A. Watson Armour and Sarah Armour Presidential Professor, Interim Chair of the Department and Chief of the Spine Service.

Dr. Traynelis has an active clinical practice that solely focuses on surgery of the cervical spine and craniovertebral junction. Working in this region, he specializes in complex spine surgery, spinal deformity, spinal arthroplasty, spinal reconstruction, and tumors of the spinal column and spinal cord.

He is a Past President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the Cervical Spine Research Society, and Past Chairperson of the Joint Section of Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves. He was a Director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery for 6 years and served as the Vice Chair of the ABNS in 2014–2015. He is currently the Chair-Elect of Committee on Advanced Surgical Training (CAST) and the Chair of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Ethics Committee.

Dr. Traynelis has published more than 180 papers and over 200 editorials in peer-reviewed journals. He has authored or co-authored four books and 90 chapters. He has been the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurosurgery Spine. Traynelis serves on the editorial boards of Neurosurgery, Spine, Journal of Spinal Disorders and Operative Techniques, Global Spine Journal, and Journal of Clinical Neurology. Traynelis’ research interests include cervical spine surgery, spinal infections, operative monitoring and spinal biomechanics. He has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. Traynelis has worked with industry and holds a number of patents for cervical spinal implants and devices.