Dr. Rudolph Bertagnoli is a global leader in non-fusion surgery, training hundreds of surgeons in non-fusion techniques. Dr. Bertagnoli has implanted almost every commercially available non-fusion technology, including the ProDisc, Charite', ProDisc-C. Maverick, Bryan cervical total disc replacements. Other non-fusion technologies include the Raymedica PDN prosthetic disc nucleus, NeuDisc nucleus replacement; also Dynesis, Wallis and Fixano-U posterior stablization systems. Other research includes the CO.Don ADCT autologous disc chondrocyte transplantation. Dr Bertagnoli is the Current President, Spine Arthroplasty Society and was the Keynote speaker, North American Spine Society, 2004

Dr. Fabien Bitan's clinical field is exclusively Spinal Surgery, including spinal deformities and degenerative spine diseases. He has been the principal investigator for the FDA trial of the Charité artificial disc and the Dynesys posterior stabilization system. Dr. Bitan has worked with this disc replacement technology since the 1980s during his training in France where he studied with Dr. Thierry David. He has had more than two hundred cases of simple and complex reconstructive disc replacements. He organizes and supervises research projects in the fields of Scoliosis, Artificial Discs, Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery and Treatment of Osteoporotic Spinal Fractures. In September, 2005, he began his current position as director of spine surgery at New York's prestigious Lennox Hill Hospital. (See www.manhattanorthopaedics.com.)

Dr. Karin Buettner-Janz, Professor, and Dr. Kurt Shellnack are credited with inventing the world's first commercially viable artificial intervertebral disc. (They are the S and B in SB Charite' III.) The first implantation, on September 19th, 1984 marks the beginning of a new era for spine patients. She is currently head of Orthopaedic Clinik, Vivantes Klinikum im Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany. Before becoming an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Buettner-Janz was a world-class gymnast. Having competed in both the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, she holds 7 Olympic medals including 2 gold. She also claimed the coveted title of European All Around Champion in 1969 and was World Champion in uneven parallel bars in 1970.

Dr. Stephen Hochschuler is Co-founder and chairman of the board of the Texas Back Institute, and a founding board member of the Spinal Arthroplasty Society. Dr. Hochschuler is a graduate of Columbia College in New York, who received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and he has published two books for the lay public: "Back in Shape" and "Treat Your Back Without Surgery"

Dr. Anthony Yeung specializes in Percutaneous endoscopic surgery of the lumbar spine, having developed the Yeung Endoscopic Spine System (YESS^tm), which includes multi-channel spine endoscopes. He advanced endoscopic spine surgery during his tenure as president of the American Academy for Minimally Invasive Spinal Medicine and Surgery and will continue his efforts as president-elect of the International Intradiscal Therapy Society.

Dr. Willem Zeegers is one of the early pioneers to use the SB Charite' III Artificial Disc Replacement. With 1200 prostheses implanted since 1989, Dr. Zeegers is the most experienced Artificial Disc Replacement surgeon in the world. Dr. Zeegers practices at the AlphaKlinik in Munich, Germany, a leading medical clinic that specializes in innovative techniques to treat spine, knee, and shoulder problems.