• Chief of pediatric and adult spinal surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery

• A.B. in Biology and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis
• M.D. at Washington University School of Medicine

Most of Bridwell's patients are adults and children with scoliosis, a condition in which the spine is curved — not the normal curves that round the shoulders and make the lower back curve slightly inward. Patients with scoliosis have spines that curve side to side, so the problem cannot be corrected simply by learning to stand up straight. In a growing child, spinal braces can sometimes either correct the deformity or keep it from getting worse, but in adults, the prescribed treatment usually is surgical. Bridwell uses various techniques — first to loosen up the spine somewhat, then to straighten and stabilize it with bone grafts or with proteins that become bone and fuse together segments of the spine.