Dr. J. Hurlbert, MD, PhD, FRCS, FACS

Dr. Hurlbert attended medical school at the University of Saskatchewan from 1980 to 1985. He completed a year of rotating internship at the Regina General Hospital then spent nine years at the University of Toronto completing his neurosurgical residency. During this time, he also worked towards his PhD in spinal cord injury research in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Tator, and completed a clinical fellowship in complex spinal surgery with Dr. Michael Fehlings. In 1995, Dr. Hurlbert moved to Phoenix, Arizona to learn additional spinal surgical techniques at the Barrow Neurological Institute. He came to Calgary in 1996 and has been working at the Foothills Hospital and University of Calgary ever since.

Dr. Hurlbert’s clinical interests are cranio-cervical abnormalities, spine and spinal cord trauma. He is engaged in several clinical research projects in these and other spinal problems, as well as basic science initiatives in spinal cord injury through his association with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. Dr. Hurlbert has helped to create the University of Calgary Spine Program and the Canadian Spine Society, both which remain active organizations today educating medical studies, residents, fellows, and surgeons from across Canada and the world.