Menger Named USA Health Neurosurgery Vice Chair

Dr. Richard Menger, associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of South Alabama (USA) Whiddon College of Medicine, was recently named vice chair for its Department of Neurosurgery. As vice chair, Menger wants to test and integrate new strategic and tactical initiatives. He serves as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, the chief of complex spine surgery at USA Health and director of the USA Health Spine Institute, a program he initiated to change the culture around the delivery of spine care. His clinical focus is on complex spinal reconstructions for scoliosis and spinal deformities in children and adults. He is an honors graduate of Cornell University, and he completed medical school with honors at Georgetown University. To further his research mission, he earned a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Menger has published more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and presented more than 80 abstracts at national and international meetings. The editor of an academic neurosurgery textbook, his research has been cited more than 500 times in the medical community. He has received grants and numerous awards for his research and was recognized by the North American Spine Society as a “20 under 40” spine surgeon in the U.S. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the Council of State Neurological Societies, the North American Spine Society (NASS), and a candidate member of the Scoliosis Research Society. He was selected for the NASS Spinal Deformity Committee and the AANS/CNS Joint Guidelines Committee.