Q. How did you become interested in spine surgery? Who were your mentors?

Dr. Ghogawala: I trained at the MGH, which was a heavily cranial-focused program. Complex spine was managed more by orthopedic surgeons. Spine attracted me because I saw enormous opportunity to make an impact on a field that promised significant improvement in quality of life, but lacked evidence to direct patients and surgeons to the optimal use of surgical approaches and technology. Larry Borges was an early mentor. Volker Sonntag, Fred Barker, Bob Heary, Dan Riew, Jeff Wang, and David Polly have been great mentors as well. In addition, I have been extremely fortunate to have Ed Benzel and Dan Resnick as career mentors who have opened many doors for me and continue today to provide valuable guidance.

Q. What accomplishment are you most proud of from the past year?

Dr. Ghogawala: The Spine Section had one of its greatest years in 2019 with an attendance of 605 spine-focused physicians. We had significant numbers of orthopedic surgeons, interventional spine specialists, and residents in addition to neurosurgeons who attended this past meeting in Las Vegas. I am enormously proud of what Lou Tumialan and the scientific program committee accomplished this year. We had a program that focused on data- driven innovation and included real cases from members and provided a forum for open discussion at the meeting.