Dr. Rinella is a board-certified, fellowship-trained spine surgeon. His practice is a referral center for complex adult and pediatric procedures, including scoliosis and revision procedures. He has a special interest in the cervical spine, and minimally invasive procedures. Dr. Rinella is the founder of his private practice, Illinois Spine and Scoliosis Center. Dr. Rinella leads GSO’s missions to Cali, Colombia and Chihuahua, Mexico each year, and participates in other spinal missions around the world. Dr. Rinella received the De La Salle Award from Lewis University for “his exceptional dedication to the children of the world afflicted with spinal deformities, and his tireless humanitarian efforts to ease their suffering and offer them lives of hope.” Dr. Rinella received the Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Award in 2013, the highest humanitarian honor awarded by the Scoliosis Research Society. Dr. Rinella is dedicated to educating medical teams world-wide and does so through his medical missions and international lectures. He has published numerous articles on adult and pediatric scoliosis, cervical and lumbar disc replacements, among other topics.
Jeremy Longhurst brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of medical education overseeing the development of various medical education organizations in the US, Europe, and Asia. After working in micro-finance in developing nations in the early 1990s, Jeremy moved back to the medical field, and was the Executive Director of various medical societies and foundations in the US and Europe.
In 2000, Jeremy founded BroadWater, Inc. The company provided medical education services through medical meetings, online, and in print. In 2007, BroadWater was acquired by Vertical Health, LLC a medical media company. Jeremy assumed the role of President, Medical Education for VH, and also sat on its Board of Directors. In May, 2013 Jeremy re-acquired BroadWater, and continues to direct its growth.
Will Van Weelden is a CPA and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer at Milwaukee Brewing Company. He has over six years of public accounting experience at Ernst & Young, LLP where he gained expertise in financial reporting, internal controls, and budgeting. At GSO he oversees the annual budgeting process, manages the finances, and ensures the funds of the organization are used to best serve the mission of assisting children with spinal deformities.
Dr. Bruder has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the discovery, development and commercialization of products to diagnose and treat patients around the world. He founded the Bruder Consulting & Venture Group in 2014 after 25 years in the industrial sector, serving in the C-Suites of Stryker Corporation as the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, and at BD, as the Chief Science and Technology Officer. Previously, while at Johnson & Johnson, he and his team built a portfolio of tissue repair products for the DePuy Orthopaedics franchise before establishing a new business unit known as J&J Regenerative Therapeutics, LLC. In addition to his tenure through industry, Dr. Bruder has maintained an active academic presence, serving as a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University since 2011, after 13 years as faculty in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Currently, he also serves on the Board of Directors of publicly held medical device companies in the US and Europe.
Dr. Bruder's inventions, technologies and teams have launched dozens of products, earning more than $2 billion for his employers and patent licensors. He has published more than 125 original articles, book chapters and abstracts, been awarded over 20 patents, and lectured extensively around the world. He is the recipient of numerous honors, and is both the youngest and only industry scientist to receive the Kappa Delta Award from the AAOS, the Marshall R. Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research from the ORS, and the Pierre Galletti Award from the AIMBE, all of which represent the highest scientific honors bestowed by these organizations.
Dr. Lenke is the is Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center College of Physicians and Surgeons, Surgeon-in-Chief at the Spine Hospital at New York-Presbyterian/Allen.
Dr. Lenke is world-renowned for the surgical treatment of pediatric and adult patients with various forms of spinal deformity, with an expertise in the most complex types of cases. He is a leading authority on spinal deformities including scoliosis, kyphosis, flat-back syndrome, high-grade spondylolisthesis, and major truncal imbalances due to various spinal deformities. He is generally regarded as the premier spinal deformity surgeon in the world, having developed the classification system for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) to which his name is now attached.
Dr. Lenke was honored with the North American Spine Society’s 2013 Leon Wiltse Award for excellence in leadership and/or clinical research in spine care. He served as President of the Scoliosis Research Society from 2010-2011, the oldest and most prestigious spine society in the world, whose single focus is the advancement of care in patients with spinal deformity and also remains active with the North American Spine Society, the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. As a reflection of his preeminent surgical skills, he has hosted over 700 spinal surgeons from around the globe to observe his surgeries in the past 15 years.
Dr. Lenke’s goal has always been to be the top academic spinal deformity surgeon in the world. This internal drive is based on the connection between high-level spinal deformity research and optimizing patient care for those requiring surgery.
Dr. Lenke’s prolific academic career includes writing over 360 published peer-reviewed manuscripts, editing 5 textbooks on Spinal Surgery, writing more than 125 textbook chapters, chairing over 100 Spinal Surgery meetings and having been an invited Visiting Professor domestically and internationally over 100 times. Dr. Lenke has also served as chairman at over 80 spinal surgery courses worldwide leading to innovative treatments for his patients and many others globally. Dr. Lenke can offer the latest and safest techniques for surgical correction of even the most severe spinal deformities.
Scott Matzelle is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and lives in Hinsdale, IL with his wife and three children.
John Mikulski is a Business Owner/Importer with over 30 years of business experience focusing on strong, productive relationships. He has a keen insight for creating connections and orchestrating partnerships. John has a thorough knowledge of importing and conducting business in a global economy. His work ethic and energy fills an important role on the GSO board. He works tirelessly to create alliances between private corporations and Global Spine Outreach. His understanding of diverse business transactions allows him to help both groups to realize their objectives and create valuable relationships.
Bridget Mortell comes to GSO with a background in neurobiology and electrophysiology that she turned into an early career in Intraoperative Surgical Neuromonitoring. It was within this capacity that she first volunteered on a surgical spine mission with Dr. Rinella as a neuromonitoring technician. While maintaining her leadership position managing in the private sector, her passion for helping others led her to become a dedicated volunteer and mission trip organizer, filling in where needed on outreach trips while immersing herself in the nonprofit world.
Bridget has now participated in over twenty-five medical missions in four different countries while continuing to grow GSO’s mission. She is focused on improving quality, safety and universal access to medical care for children around the world. As the full-time administrator of Global Spine Outreach, Bridget leads marketing and fundraising efforts, ensures effective and efficient day-to-day administration of programs, coordinates goal-setting and metrics to ensure progress and success, while building partnerships and long-term relationships with volunteers, donors, industry representatives, and international mission collaborators.
Dr. Mundis specializes in spinal deformities of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine for pediatric and adult patients. These conditions include scoliosis, kyphosis, and sagittal plane deformities. He also has special interest in failed back surgery, helping those who have not seen the relief from their spine interventions and has extensive training in both minimally invasive spine surgery as well traditional reconstructive methods.
Dr. Mundis is heavily involved in research and education. He currently is the co-director of the San Diego Spine Fellowships, which trains two new spine surgeons every year. In addition, he is very active in presenting his research and educating other surgeons in minimally invasive spine surgery and advanced surgical techniques at national and international meetings every year. His research is focused on minimally invasive reconstruction for scoliosis and the treatment of children with severe deformities. He is a member of the International Spine Study Group (ISSG), the largest multicenter study group, dedicated to prospective research relating to adults with spinal deformities.
Dr. Mundis is particularly passionate about his efforts in global outreach. Dr. Mundis takes numerous trips every year to underserved areas around the world. He has the opportunity to operate on children who otherwise would not have access to modern spine care, while also educating the national surgeons to make these surgeries more sustainable over time. Dr. Mundis is frequently joined by his wife and family on these trips as testament to their dedication to serving their community both locally and internationally. Dr. Mundis believes strongly that his patients are an extension of his family. As a father of four children, and the son of a missionary family, he believes that every encounter matters and that all patients deserve to have their story heard.
Dr. Siemionow is Chief of spine surgery and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Dr. Siemionow has completed fellowships in Spine Surgery and he specializes in the surgical management of spinal conditions affecting the neck, spine, and back in adults, children, and adolescents. Dr. Siemionow leads the GSO spine outreach program in Poland where he performs surgery on children and adults with spinal deformities. Dr. Siemionow also has participated in spine surgery missions to Uganda, East Africa, where he treats both children and adults suffering from spinal trauma, scoliosis, tumors, and infection.
Dr. Siemionow is very active academically and has published scientific articles pertaining to spine surgery and basic science spine research. Some of his current research is focused on spinal deformity, the effects of minimally invasive surgical techniques, and complex cervical spine surgery. Dr. Siemionow has been awarded several patents for developing devices and technologies used in nerve and spine surgery and contributes as speaker and/or consultant for a number of medical companies.