R. John Hurlbert, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS

Dr. Hurlbert joined our team in 2016 as co-director of the UA Spine Program, focusing on program-building, residency, and spine fellowship training and clinical and translational research.

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Hurlbert has worked with his orthopedic surgery counterparts to co-found the University of Calgary Spine Program and served as its inaugural chair from 1996-2001. This program is currently the largest spine surgery fellowship program in Canada, with 11 faculty training 4-5 fellows per year. The program has trained over 60 fellows from different countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Ireland, the United States and Canada.

In 1999, Dr. Hurlbert co-founded the Canadian Spine Society, also serving as its inaugural president from 2000-2002. The society has 150 surgeon members representing neurosurgery and orthopedic spine surgery across Canada. He was a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons neurosurgery examination committee for 10 years, five of them in the capacity of chief examiner. Dr. Hurlbert also spent two five-year terms as neurosurgical residency program director at the University of Calgary. He has been a member of the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves since starting practice and has served on the executive committee for 16 years. He was chair of the Spine Section in 2014.

Currently, Dr. Hurlbert reviews for the journal Neurosurgery and is a section editor for World Neurosurgery. He has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts.