Meet Dr. Radcliff
Dr. Kris Radcliff is a Harvard-educated, Rothman fellowship-trained spine surgeon, and a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurological Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University.
Dr. Radcliff specializes in simplifying the management of complex spine conditions and traumatic spine injuries, focusing exclusively on spine surgery, with particular expertise in the area of artificial disc replacement. Having performed more than 10,000 spine surgeries, Dr. Radcliff is highly experienced. He combines conservative decision-making judgment with state-of-the-art and minimally invasive surgical techniques, endoscopic spine surgery, and artificial disc replacement.
Highly qualified
Highly educated with specialized training, Dr. Radcliff first graduated with honors from Harvard College, then attended Duke University School of Medicine on a prestigious Dean’s Tuition Scholarship. Dr. Radcliff completed orthopedic residency training in the Texas Medical Center at the distinguished Baylor College of Medicine, followed by a clinical spine surgery fellowship here at the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute. Dr. Radcliff focuses exclusively on spine surgery.
Dr. Radcliff has served as a principal investigator in multiple clinical trials including a cervical total disc replacement study, bone stimulator study, a basivertebral nerve ablation study, and numerous others.
Focus on innovation
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Radcliff’s goal is in developing innovative conservative management interventions for disc-related back pain based on currently available biologics for neurogenic pain syndromes. Radcliff has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and regularly presents at national and international spine meetings.
Dr. Radcliff is an international expert on diagnosis, nonsurgical, and surgical treatment of spinal conditions. He has authored or co-authored 76 peer-reviewed publications, 22 textbook chapters on the diagnosis and treatment of spinal conditions, and has won numerous research awards.
Thought leadership
Dr. Radcliff regularly teaches other surgeons at national and international meetings about safely and efficiently performing spine surgery, techniques and complication avoidance in minimally invasive spine surgery, orthopedic basic science, and spine trauma and spinal cord injury.
Dr. Radcliff is a thought leader and innovator in the world of spine surgery and his contributions have earned him numerous awards, including being recognized by the North American Spine Society as a top 40 under 40 in 2018. In addition, Dr. Radcliff is a consultant and teacher for Zeiss on their operative microscope; and consults and advises for Ultrasonics on the use of their ultrasonic bone cutting tools.
Education
- A.B., Harvard University
- M.D., Duke University School of Medicine
- Residency, Orthopaedic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine
- Fellowship, Spine and Spinal Cord Injury, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Titles & Certifications
- Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Department of Neurological Surgery, Sidney Kimmel Medical College
- Board Certified, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Professional Associations
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
- North American Spine Society
- National Medical Association
- J. Robert Gladden Orthopedic Society
Surgical Specializations
- Lumbar Fusion
- Sacroiliac Joint Fusion
- Cervical Fusion
- Cervical Laminoplasty
- Microdiscectomy
- Endoscopic Spine Surgery
- Spinal Stenosis Treatment
- Spinal Fracture Stabilization
- Disc Replacement
- Lumbar Laminectomy
Publications (Peer Reviewed)
- Two-Year Results of the Prospective Spine Treatment Outcomes Study: An Analysis of Complication Rates, Predictors of Their Development, and Effect on Patient-Derived Outcomes at Two Years of Surgical Management of Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. Gerling MC, Radcliff K, Isaacs R, Bianco K, Jalai CM, Worley NJ, Parmar J, Poorman GW, Horn SR, Moon JY, Arnold PM, Vaccaro AR, Passias P. World Neurosurg Oct 2017 PMID 28673888
- Outcome of a Resident Spine Surgical Skills Training Program. Calio BP, Kepler CK, Koerner JD, Rihn JA, Millhouse P, Radcliff KE. Clin Spine Surg Oct 2017 PMID28937469
- Which Domains of the ODI Best Predict Change in Physical Function in Patients after Surgery for Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis. Murphy HA, Warnick E, McGintee R, Nicholson K, Hollern DA, Stawicki C, Tarazona D, Schroeder GD, Woods BI, Kurd MF, Rihn JA, Anderson GD, Kepler CK, Hilibrand AS, Vaccaro AR, Radcliff KE. Spine 2017 Oct. PMID 29028759
- Two-Year Results of the Prospective Spine Treatment Outcomes Study: Analysis of Postoperative Clinical Outcomes Between Patients with and without a History of Previous Cervical Spine Surgery. Radcliff K, Jalai C, Vira S, Yang S, Boniello AJ, Bianco K, Oh C, Gerling M, Poorman G, Horn SR, Buza JA 3rd, Isaacs RE, Vaccarro AR, Passias PG. World Neurosurg Sept 2017 PMID 28962949
- Novel Index to Quantify the Risk of Surgery in the Setting of Adult Spinal Deformity: A Study on 10,912 Patients from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Diebo BG, Jalai CM, Challier V, Maraschalchi BJ, Horn SR, Poorman GW, Bono OJ, Cherkalin D, Worley N, Oh J, Naziri Q, Spitzer A, Radcliff K, Patel A, Lafage V, Paulino CB, Passias PG. Clini Spine Surg Aug 2017 PMID 28169941
- The Effect of Hospital Ownership on Health Care Utilization in Orthopaedic Surgery. Schroeder GD, Kurd MF, Kepler CK, Radcliff KE, Maltenfort MG, Murphy H, Rihn JA, Anderson DG, Hilibrand AS, Vaccarro AR. Clin Spine Surg Aug 2017 PMID 28787282
- Are patient-reported outcomes predictive of patient satisfaction 5 years after anterior cervical spine surgery? Schroeder GD, Coric D, Kim HJ, Albert TJ, Radcliff KE. Spine J July 2017 PMID 28254671
Honors, Awards, and Memberships
- 1996-2000 Harvard College Faculty Scholarship
- 1996 National Merit Scholarship, National Merit Finalist
- 2000-2004 Duke University Dean’s Tuition Scholarship
- 2002-2003 Research Fellowship, Stanley J. Sarnoff Endowment for Science
- 2007 Baylor College of Medicine Outstanding Resident Educator House Staff Award 2008 AOA Resident Leadership Forum Representative
- 2009 AOA Emerging Leaders Forum Member
- 2011 Leonard Goldstein Award Winner. The incidence of lumbar adjacent segment disease: A comparison of single level fusion procedures. Scoliosis Research Society
- 2011 Best Poster Award Scoliosis Research Society: “Does Multilevel Laminectomy Increase Risk of Adjacent Segment Spinal Disease”
- 2011 Best Paper Section North American Spine Society “Do Epidural Steroid Injections Affect the Outcome of Lumbar Stenosis?”
- 2011 Best Paper Section North American Spine Society “Predictors of Reoperation: A Subgroup Analysis of SPORT?”
- 2011 Best Poster Section North American Spine Society “Neurological Injury Following Odontoid Nonunion”
- 2014 Best Paper Cervical Spine Research Society “Costs of Cervical Disc Replacement versus Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion for Treatment of Single-Level Cervical Disc Disease: An Analysis of the Blue Health Intelligence Database for Acute and Long-Term Costs and ”
- 2016 North American Spine Society Best Paper “Does Sagittal Balance Influence the Surgical Outcomes of Patients with Cervical Myelopathy?”
- 2016 North American Spine Society Best Paper “Correlating Patient-Reported Outcomes to Patient Satisfaction in Patients’ with a Lumbar Disc Herniation”
- 2016 North American Spine Society Best Paper “The Total Cost to the Health Care System for the Treatment of Cervical Myelopathy”
- 2018 Top 40 under 40, North American Spine Society
- 2019 CSRS 1st Place Clinical Research Award Winner Presentation #66 The Real Costs of ACDF: A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Analysis
- 2020 ISASS Best Paper Award Nominee: Patient Outcomes Following Short-segment Lumbar Fusion Are Not Affected by PI-LL Mismatch
- 2021 ISASS Top Article: Final Long-Term Reporting from a Randomized Controlled IDE Trial for Lumbar Artificial Discs in Single-Level Degenerative Disc Disease: 7-Year Results
- 2022 Top Doc