Anthony Sin, MD, FAANS, Vice Chair, Professor and Director of Complex Spinal Disorders in the Department of Neurosurgery at LSU Health Shreveport, has been awarded the Donald and Kathryn R. Smith Endowed Chair in Spinal Treatment.
The Donald and Kathryn R. Smith Endowed Chair in Spinal Treatment is used to develop a program for comparison studies and follow-up of patients diagnosed with various disorders of the spine to help determine the most effective treatments. The honored professor may use the funds to enhance the quality of their curriculum, facilities or instruction in any way they deems necessary. Dr. Sin plans to invest resources to properly manage spine patients that are being treated at our clinic to better track outcome measures.
“Clinical outcomes can be measured in many different ways, and it is essential to be able to create a database and follow these patients for years so that we can more accurately see the impact of any trends in outcomes in spinal research,” explained Dr. Sin.
A research associate will also be hired for the department with the endowed chair funding. This associate will be able to maintain and update all the research projects and the database in addition to keeping up with IRB protocols. Dr. Sin envisions a clinical fellowship program being developed in the future to train post-graduate neurosurgery residents in complex spinal disorders at LSU Health Shreveport.
Dr. Sin joined the Department of Neurosurgery faculty in 2008 after completing his Neurosurgery Residency at LSU Health Shreveport and a complex spine fellowship at the University of Tennessee in Memphis under Dr. Kevin Foley. He completed a fellowship in Neurotrauma at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, an internship in Internal Medicine at Emory University, and an additional internship in General Surgery at the State University of New York in Stony Brook.
The endowed chair is named for Dr. Donald Smith and his wife, Kathryn. Dr. Smith is clinical professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and a pillar in the neurosurgical community in the Shreveport-Bossier area. Dr. Smith established the first Neurosurgical Service at LSU Health Shreveport in 1977 while still in private practice. He joined the Department of Neurosurgery faculty full-time in 1996 and helped develop the residency training program.
“My relationship with Dr. Smith, both on a personal and professional level, influenced my professional path more than anyone else for more than 17 years. His honesty and impeccable integrity guided my initial interest into spine surgery as a young resident, and he still remains to be the main influence on me to serve this region as the tertiary referral spine surgeon for Northwest Louisiana. It is truly an honor and privilege to be appointed the first Donald and Kathryn R. Smith Endowed Chair in Spinal Treatment,” said Dr. Sin.
Dr. Sin’s endowed chair appointment will span the remainder of his tenure with the Department of Neurosurgery faculty at LSU Health Shreveport.
