Merritt D. Kinon, MD

Merritt D. Kinon, M.D. is the section chief of spinal neurosurgery for the Westchester Medical Center Health Network and an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. He is a board certified neurosurgeon and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Kinon's practice specializes in the comprehensive surgical care of adult spinal conditions, including adult complex spinal neurosurgery, minimally invasive spine surgery, revision spine surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, and trauma neurosurgery. He also performs neuromodulation surgery including spinal cord stimulation.

Dr. Kinon received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed his postgraduate training in neurosurgery with an enfolded neuro-oncology fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center followed by an advanced adult spinal neurosurgery fellowship at Duke University Medical Center.

Dr. Kinon's research focuses on improving the spine patient's post-surgical pain experience, minimizing hospital length of stay, and optimizing physical function and activity after surgery. He actively collaborates with the departments of Anesthesia and Orthopedic Surgery in developing both pre-surgical and post-surgical protocols aimed at improving the patient's overall surgical experience. His other research interests include spine surgery health outcomes and spinal biomechanics. Dr. Kinon's research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and books, and he has been invited to lecture both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Kinon is patient focused offering his patients the most up-to-date surgical techniques including microscopic and minimally invasive spine surgery, the use of intraoperative spinal navigation, and motion preserving surgeries such as cervical disc arthroplasty surgery.

Dr. Kinon is a dedicated mentor and teacher to neurosurgical residents and medical students. He also mentors under-represented college students helping to provide them exposure to opportunities to pursue careers in medicine.

Professional Memberships

• American Association of Neurological Surgeons
• American Medical Association
• AOSpine
• Congress of Neurological Surgeons
• Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
• New York Society of Neurosurgery
• North American Spine Society

Awards/Recognition

• Castle Connolly, Top Doctor
• Author, co-author, reviewer, numerous peer-reviewed publications, journal articles and presentations

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