A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. McConnell returned to his home state in 2003 to join OAA’s Pennsylvania Spine and Scoliosis Institute. He brings with him an unparalleled level of expertise and training in the discipline of spinal surgery, having completed two spine surgery fellowships and being board certified in both spinal surgery and orthopaedic surgery.
Dr. McConnell had the unique opportunity to complete his second fellowship at the Centre for Spinal Studies and Surgery, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, England, with a primary focus on surgery for complex spinal deformities.
Before joining OAA, Dr. McConnell spent ten years in Virginia where he served as co-director of the Division of Spine Surgery at Naval Regional Medical Center, Portsmouth. He held faculty positions at two medical schools and established the Highlands Spine Institute, a center dedicated exclusively to the spine.
Dr. McConnell’s patients benefit not only from his experience and skills as a spinal surgeon, but also from his dedication and caring.
Dr. McConnell has strong subspecialty interests in treating pediatric spinal deformity (scoliosis), motion preservation technologies for spine surgery and minimally invasive spine surgery techniques. Dr. McConnell is known in the region for his years of experience with cervical disc arthroplasty. He utilizes the Secure-C and ProDisc-C technologies for total disc replacement.
He is active in spine research and was the lead investigator for the SECURE-C Cervical Disc Replacement FDA IDE clinical trial and in a study comparing bone graft substitutes in anterior lumbar fusion surgery. Additionally he is currently the lead investigator at LVH for the two-level Prestige-LP cervical disc replacement IDE clinical trial.
Dr. McConnell has presented his research in the U.S and internationally at scientific meetings including the European Spine Society, International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, North American Spine Society, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Global Spine Congress and the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.
Dr. McConnell is also a leader in the use of cutting-edge surgical techniques, including Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF) and cervical total disc arthroplasty. Along with Dr. Ujjwal Debnath, a former Nottingham colleague, he heads “Operation Straight Spine,” a charitable mission project which provides treatment for spinal disease and spinal deformity for the poor and underserved in Kolkata, India.