Ali A. Baaj MD
Professor of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgery Chief of Spine Surgery
University of Arizona, College of Medicine Banner University Medical Center Phoenix, Arizona
Dr. Baaj is a board-certified neurosurgeon with advanced training and expertise in complex spine surgery. He is accomplished and well-published in both traditional and innovative, minimally invasive techniques for treating spinal degenerative disease, trauma, tumors, and scoliosis. He has a particular focus on utilizing less invasive techniques for complex spine conditions including spinal deformities and degenerative diseases of the spine.
Dr. Baaj earned his M.D. from the Boston University College of Medicine in 2004. He completed a general surgery internship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, followed by a neurosurgical residency at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Dr. Baaj returned to Johns Hopkins to complete post-graduate spine fellowship training, with an emphasis on advanced techniques in spinal tumor resection and spinal deformity reconstruction. Dr. Baaj capped his spine training with a clinical fellowship in pediatric scoliosis at Necker’s Children’s Hospital in Paris.
Dr. Baaj has authored more than 150 abstracts, manuscripts, and book chapters, with an emphasis on spinal anatomy and advanced surgical techniques. His research interests include spinal biomechanics and clinical outcomes studies. He serves on the editorial boards of International Journal of Spine Surgery and Clinical Spinal Surgery and Spinal Deformity and is an active member of national and international neurosurgical and orthopedic spine organizations, including the CNS/AANS Spine Section, AOSpine and the Scoliosis Research Society.
Dr. Baaj has co-edited four textbooks on spine surgery, including the award-winning Handbook of Spine Surgery, now in its 2nd edition.
