Research Summary
Dr. Dean Chou specializes in the treatment of complex and difficult spinal disorders. He treats such disorders as adult kyphoscoliosis, spinal deformities, flat back syndrome, complex spinal tumors, and degenerative conditions of the spine. He is an expert in minimally invasive applications to such complex spinal disorders, and he has published multiple peer-reviewed papers describing his techniques. Moreover, he is an expert in traditional, open surgery for such complex procedures as spinal reconstruction for deformities or failed back syndrome and en bloc excision of complex spinal tumors. His goal is to try to accomplish the same success of open surgery with minimally invasive techniques, which hopefully can lead to less morbidity and better outcomes for patients.
After medical school at UCSF, Dr. Chou completed his residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and then undertook a fellowship in complex spinal surgery at The Barrow Neurological Institute. He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and has been elected by his peers for 10 consecutive years to the organization, “Best Doctors in America."
In addition to having published as either first or senior author in SPINE, Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Global Spine Journal, Neurosurgical Focus, and Neurosurgery, his publications have been featured 5 times as the cover article of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.
Dr. Chou sits on the editorial boards of the JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY: SPINE, the journal, NEUROSURGERY, and the journal, PLOS ONE, as an academic editor. He also sits on the advisory board of the journal, SPINE. He currently serves on the executive committees and scientific program committees for the AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, on the Board of Directors of the Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS), and on the Membership Committee for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). He has served as abstract reviewer and faculty member for such organizations as the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), the North American Spine Society (NASS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the AANS, the LSRS, the Global Spine Congress, and the International Meeting for Advanced Spinal Techniques (IMAST).
Education
University of California Berkeley, 1991, B.A., Biochemistry
University of California, San Francisco, 1996, M.D., Medicine
The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1996-1997, Intern, General Surgery
The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1997-2002, Resident, Neurosurgery
The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Assistant Chief of Service, 2002-2003, Neurosurgery
Barrow Neurological Institute, Spine Fellow, 2003-2004, Spine surgery