Ron Riesenburger, MD is the Director of the Spine Center at Tufts Medical Center (TMC). The TMC Spine team treats thousands of patients and performs over one thousand spinal operations and injections each year. Dr. Riesenburger is proud to be part of this exceptional team. He has a busy clinical practice and has expertise treating patients with spinal conditions including pinched nerves, sciatica, spinal stenosis, disc herniation, spondylolisthesis, spinal tumors, radiculopathy, and myelopathy.
Dr. Riesenburger's primary research investigates spinal amyloidosis and possible relationships with cardiac amyloidosis and carpal tunnel syndrome. He takes great pride in his collaborative approach to research. At TMC, he has collaborated and co-authored publications with physicians from over ten different departments and divisions. He also has ongoing research collaborations with physicians from Boston Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai, Cleveland Clinic, Maine Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University, and University of Utah. He has published over 100 peer reviewed papers and book chapters and has presented his research nationally and internationally. His research is supported by the Tufts Springboard grant "Toward a medical treatment for spinal stenosis: elucidating the role of amyloid and inflammatory markers associated with ligamentum flavum thickening" and NIH R01 grant "Analysis of lumbar spine specimens for identification of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis."
Dr. Riesenburger enjoys mentorship and education. He is the TMC Neurosurgery Residency Associate Program Director. He is also Director of the Neurosurgery Clerkship and is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). In this capacity, he has mentored several TUSM students and neurosurgery residents. As of 2023, he has co-authored manuscripts and book chapters with over 50 TUSM students and residents. Several TUSM students have received research awards and grants with his mentorship. He received the 2023 TUSM Dean's Outstanding Mentor Award in recognition of his dedication to mentorship.
He is very committed to the success of Tufts Medical Center. He serves on several committees and has served as Chair of the Large Capital Budget Committee for FY 20, 21, 22, and 23.
In 2018, The Massachusetts Department of Public Health selected him to serve as one of two physician advisors to the Massachusetts Spinal Cord Injury Program. In this capacity, he has helped Massachusetts award millions of dollars in grant money for spinal cord injury research. Dr. Riesenburger has served on the Executive Board of the New England Neurosurgical Society for four years and is currently its Treasurer.
Dr. Riesenburger has been a practicing neurosurgeon at Tufts since 2008 and has been named a Boston Magazine "Top Doctor" every year since 2017. He is board certified in Neurological Surgery and is accepting new patients.
