He was previously the co-director of spine research and development at Olympia Medical Center. He was the first neurosurgeon to inject stem cells into a human spinal cord, as part of an FDA trial. He has also won the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' Young Investigator Award twice for his work on cervical disorders and stem cell research. He previously directed the advanced neurosurgical spine program at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He completed a spinal neurosurgical fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.