Dr Stefan Mindea

Dr Stefan Mindea is a US trained neurosurgeon with subspecialty fellowship training in minimally invasive and endoscopic spine procedures. He is the founder and director of the American Neurosurgery Institute (ANSI) in Romania.
Mindea specializes in minimally invasive techniques of the brain and spine. While at Stanford University Medical Center, he served as Director of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery and Co-Director of the Spinal Oncology program. Mindea is widely recognized for his pioneering clinical research and in the development of ULTRA minimally invasive spinal surgery techniques. Mindea specializes in endoscopic cervical disc surgery, thoracic disc surgery, lumbar disc surgery and complex spinal surgery.
==Biography==
Mindea was born in Satu Mare, Romania. At the age of 4, he and his sister were evacuated from Romania and were reunited with their parents who earlier had fled seeking political asylum in the US. The family eventually relocated to Chicago, Illinois where Mindea spent his childhood and adolescent period.
 
He was educated at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana where he studied biochemistry and was named to the Dean’s list from 1994-1997. He then continued his studies at Northwestern University Medical School where he earned his Doctor of Medicine degree, graduating in the top 5% of his class. He remained at Northwestern University Medical Center for both his neurosurgery training and also his fellowship training in spinal surgery, focusing on complex reconstructive spinal surgery and minimally invasive surgery. At Northwestern, Mindea served as Chief Resident and graduated in 2008.
 
He was then recruited to join the faculty of Stanford University Medical Center in the Department of Neurosurgery by Dr Gary Steinberg. While at Stanford, founded the first Department of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery and served as its Director. Mindea was an early adopter and developer of the ULTRA Minimally Invasive technique in the surgical treatment of high-level and professional athletes. The ULTRA minimally invasive technique is a micro-endoscopic technique predicated on approaching the spine via lateral tiny muscle-sparing incisions and using highly specialized technology to approach problems like disc herniations, spinal stenosis, and other pathologies in ways where the tissue is left untraumatized.
 
Mindea also served as Co-Director of Spinal Oncology at Stanford University Medical Center alongside Dr. Jon Park and worked extensively with the Cyberknife system to treat a wide range of brain and spinal tumors alongside Dr John Adler, the developer of Cyberknife.
 
Mindea’s passion for innovation was evident at Stanford where he pioneered several operations that were performed for the first time at Stanford University Medical Center. These included the first endoscopic endonasal operation for a spinal tumor alongside his ENT colleague Dr Jayakar Nayak, the first multi-level spondylectomy surgery for removal of a spinal tumor, and the first total sacrectomy and spinal reconstruction for removal of a spinal tumor, with doctors Rohit Khosla, David Moeller, and Dr Harris. Mindea’s high level of clinical excellence and performance were recognized with him receiving the Top Doctors award 5 consecutive years.
 
In 2015, Mindea founded the American Neurosurgery Institute (ANSI) in Romania. The center’s mission is to use the neurosurgical experience acquired at a world class institution like Stanford Medical Center and to implement the most cutting edge neurosurgery technology and offer high level patient care in Europe. The center treats over 10,000 patients annually from around the world.
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* Official website
* Official website
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Category:1975 births
Category:University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni
Category:Northwestern University alumni
Category:People from Satu Mare