SynerFuse®, Inc., a Minnesota-based medical device company, today announced the appointment of Michael Park, M.D., Ph.D., as the company’s chief technology officer. Dr. Park is a former principal investigator for the SynerFuse® proof-of-concept study and primary inventor of SynerFuse® technology.
“We are pleased to be able to elevate Dr. Park—a great talent—into our leadership team because he has brought diverse knowledge and talents to SynerFuse® that are helping us provide relief to people afflicted with chronic low back and leg pain,” said SynerFuse® President & CEO Justin Zenanko. “Dr. Park has been a key leader from the beginning in our quest to provide a non-opioid solution to spinal fusion patients who suffer from low back and leg pain.”
“SynerFuse® technology is revolutionizing the way spinal disease is treated by offering a simultaneously anatomical and neurological solution and therapy to patients suffering from chronic low back and leg pain,” said Park.
“At SynerFuse®, we believe that individuals with chronic low back and leg pain deserve better outcomes and improved lives,” said Zenanko. “Even when spinal fusion is successful, it can often result in residual chronic neuropathic pain and use of addictive opioids. Today, all patients are prescribed opioids post spinal fusion due to it being an invasive surgery. We are working to create a non-opioid solution for chronic low back and leg pain with our patented therapy, Electric Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (e-TLIF™), which integrates spinal fusion hardware and direct nerve stimulation that allows Ultra-Low-Energy™ (ULE™) therapy.”
Dr. Park is a board-certified neurosurgeon, an associate professor, MnDRIVE neuromodulation scholar, William P. Van Wagenen Fellow, and director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology at the University of Minnesota. He has extensive experience with neuromodulation—deep brain stimulation. This surgical therapy for brain conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia modulates brain activity to treat symptoms.
He also uses neuromodulation such as spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug delivery to treat cancer pain and chronic pain. Dr. Park received his dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in economics and electrical engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from the University of Kansas. He holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the School of Medicine and Graduate Studies, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, at the University of Kansas. He was awarded the prestigious William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and completed his fellowship with Dr. Jean Regis at the Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille, France, in 2010. He was an assistant professor and the director of functional neurosurgery and pain in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Louisville until 2014.
