Shaleen Vira, M.D.

Shaleen Vira, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His clinical focus is complex spinal deformities, scoliosis and minimally invasive spine surgery.  He practices at Zale Lipshy Hospital, THR/UTSW Frisco Hospital, and Parkland Hospital.

Dr. Vira is Director of Spine Surgery Research and leads multidisciplinary efforts within and outside the university to improve the safety and efficacy of spine surgery. Dr. Vira has published over 400 peer reviewed papers, conference podium presentations, and book chapters in the areas of adult and pediatric spinal deformities, minimally invasive spine surgery, and value & healthcare policy in spine care.

Prior to joining UT Southwestern in 2019, Dr. Vira was at the Cleveland Clinic where he was the Combined Neurological and Orthopaedic Spine Surgery Fellow. This unique fellowship provides the future leaders of the profession a comprehensive and rigorous training in the full breadth and depth of spine surgery. He gained experience with a multitude of surgical techniques including complex reconstruction, minimally invasive surgery, image guidance, microsurgery, robotic surgery, and spinal navigation. Indeed, Dr. Vira is one only a few surgeons in the world who is cross-trained in both neurosurgery and orthopaedics and can bring both fields of expertise to each patient's unique condition.

Furthermore, Dr. Vira's approach to spine care involves treating each patient the way he would want his mom or dad treated: "When I see patients, I would like them to know that I will treat them the way I would want a family member treated. This translates into a conservative or less aggressive approach to surgery. I tend to operate on a fewer percentage of patients that my colleagues do because this is exactly the way I would want myself or my family member treated."

Dr. Vira earned his medical degree from NYU Langone Medical Center (US News & World Report ranked #3 medical school in the nation) where he was in the highly selective BA/MD program and earned his medical school admission at age 17. His residency was at the prestigious Hospital for Joint Diseases, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital (the oldest orthopaedic residency in North American and top 5 US News & World Report hospital for Orthopaedic Surgery) where he was in the Clinician Scientist Orthopaedic Surgery Program and served as chief resident.

Dr. Vira completed a research fellowship in adult and pediatric spinal deformities at the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital. His research involved developing tools to individualize spine surgery planning and he is a strong believer in patient specific surgery. He has also studied orthopaedic surgery with clinical rotations at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Hospital for Special Surgery and brings the latest advancements in spine care to the Frisco and Dallas community.

Dr. Vira is a member of several professional societies including North American Spine Society (NASS), AO Spine Society, Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS), Texas Medical Association (TMA), Dallas County Medical Society, and International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS). He has received awards and educational grants from the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, the Scoliosis Research Society, and AO Spine. He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar at the National Institutes of Health, a Rhodes Scholar Finalist, and a Congressional Intern for Rep. Ed Royce where he wrote several speeches given on the US House floor. In his spare time, he volunteers in medical camps in developing countries in an effort to extend surgical care to those with limited healthcare access. 

Medical School

New York University Langone Medical Center (2012)

Research Fellowship

NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital (2015), Adult and Pediatric Spinal Deformity

Residency

NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital (2018), Orthopedic Surgery

Fellowship

Cleveland Clinic Foundation (2019), Spine Surgery

• adult spinal deformity
• cervical spine deformity
• minimally invasive spinal techniques
• pediatric spinal deformity
• safety in spine surgery
• value and healthcare policy in spine surgery

Featured Publications

Correction to: Prior bariatric surgery lowers complication rates following spine surgery in obese patients.

Passias PG, Horn SR, Vasquez-Montes D, Shepard N, Segreto FA, Bortz CA, Poorman GW, Jalai CM, Wang C, Stekas N, Frangella NJ, Deflorimonte C, Diebo BG, Raad M, Vira S, Horowitz JA, Sciubba DM, Hassanzadeh H, Lafage R, Afthinos J, Lafage V, Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2019 Oct

Predictors of Hospital-Acquired Conditions Are Predominately Similar for Spine Surgery and Other Common Elective Surgical Procedures, With Some Key Exceptions.

Horn SR, Pierce KE, Oh C, Segreto FA, Egers M, Bortz C, Vasquez-Montes D, Lafage R, Lafage V, Vira S, Steinmetz L, Ge DH, Buza JA, Moon J, Diebo BG, Alas H, Brown AE, Shepard NA, Hassanzadeh H, Passias PG, Global Spine J 2019 Oct 9 7 717-723

Incidence of Congenital Spinal Abnormalities Among Pediatric Patients and Their Association With Scoliosis and Systemic Anomalies.

Passias PG, Poorman GW, Jalai CM, Diebo BG, Vira S, Horn SR, Baker JF, Shenoy K, Hasan S, Buza J, Bronson W, Paul JC, Kaye I, Foster NA, Cassilly RT, Oren JH, Moskovich R, Line B, Oh C, Bess S, LaFage V, Errico TJ, J Pediatr Orthop 2019 Sep 39 8 e608-e613

Congenital Etiology Is an Independent Risk Factor for Complications in Adolescents Undergoing Corrective Scoliosis Surgery: Comparison of In-hospital Comorbidities Using Nationwide KID's Inpatient Database.

Poorman GW, Jalai CM, Diebo B, Vira S, Buza J, Baker J, Tishelman J, Horn S, Bono O, Shenoy K, Hasan S, Paul J, Isaacs E, Kaye I, Atanda A, Buckland AJ, LaFage V, Errico T, Passias PG, J Pediatr Orthop 2019 Sep 39 8 406-410

The Impact of Adult Thoracolumbar Spinal Deformities on Standing to Sitting Regional and Segmental Reciprocal Alignment.

Pierce KE, Horn SR, Jain D, Segreto FA, Bortz C, Vasquez-Montes D, Zhou PL, Moon J, Steinmetz L, Varlotta CG, Frangella NJ, Stekas N, Ge DH, Hockley A, Diebo BG, Vira S, Alas H, Brown AE, Lafage R, Lafage V, Schwab FJ, Koller H, Buckland AJ, Gerling MC, Passias PG, Int J Spine Surg 2019 Aug 13 4 308-316

Recovery kinetics following spinal deformity correction: a comparison of isolated cervical, thoracolumbar, and combined deformity morphometries.

Passias PG, Segreto FA, Lafage R, Lafage V, Smith JS, Line BG, Scheer JK, Mundis GM, Hamilton DK, Kim HJ, Horn SR, Bortz CA, Diebo BG, Vira S, Gupta MC, Klineberg EO, Burton DC, Hart RA, Schwab FJ, Shaffrey CI, Ames CP, Bess S, Spine J 2019 Aug 19 8 1422-1433

Suboptimal Age-Adjusted Lumbo-Pelvic Mismatch Predicts Negative Cervical-Thoracic Compensation in Obese Patients.

Horn SR, Bortz CA, Ramachandran S, Poorman GW, Segreto F, Siow M, Sure A, Vasquez-Montes D, Diebo B, Tishelman J, Moon J, Zhou P, Beaubrun B, Vira S, Jalai C, Wang C, Shenoy K, Behery O, Errico T, Lafage V, Buckland A, Passias PG, Int J Spine Surg 2019 Jun 13 3 252-261

Impact of presenting patient characteristics on surgical complications and morbidity in early onset scoliosis.

Segreto FA, Vasquez-Montes D, Bortz CA, Horn SR, Diebo BG, Vira S, Kelly JJ, Stekas N, Ge DH, Ihejirika YU, Lafage R, Lafage V, Karamitopoulos M, Delsole EM, Hockley A, Petrizzo AM, Buckland AJ, Errico TJ, Gerling MC, Passias PG, J Clin Neurosci 2019 Apr 62 105-111

A Novel MRI Tool for Evaluating Cortical Bone Thickness of the Proximal Femur.

Ramme AJ, Vira S, Hotca A, Miller R, Welbeck A, Honig S, Egol KA, Rajapakse CS, Chang G, Bull Hosp Jt Dis (2013) 2019 Mar 77 2 115-121

Decreased rates of 30-day perioperative complications following ASD-corrective surgery: A modified Clavien analysis of 3300 patients from 2010 to 2014.

Passias PG, Bortz CA, Pierce KE, Segreto FA, Horn SR, Vasquez-Montes D, Lafage V, Brown AE, Ihejirika Y, Alas H, Varlotta C, Ge DH, Shepard N, Oh C, DelSole EM, Jankowski PP, Hockley A, Diebo BG, Vira SN, Sciubba DM, Raad M, Neuman BJ, Gerling MC, J Clin Neurosci 2019 Mar 61 147-152

 Featured Books

Cervical alignment. In Cervical Myelopathy

Vira S, Spiegel MA, Lafage V, Schwab FJ. (2015). London, Jaypee Brothers

Cervical myelopathy in the setting of cervical deformities. In Cervical Myelopathy

Vira S, Spiegel M, Lafage V, Schwab FJ. (2015). London, Jaypee Brothers

The role of total disk replacement for the treatment of cervical myelopathy. In Cervical Myelopathy

Menga E, Vira S, Bendo J (2015). London, Jaypee Brothers

Classifications of spinal deformity. In Youmans Neurological Surgery, 7th edition

Diebo BG, Vira S, Feng J, Schwab FJ, Lafage V. (2017). Philadelphia, Elsevier

Atypical Infections. In Orthopaedic Surgery Essentials: Spine, 2nd edition

Vira S, Worley N, Jalai C, Passias PG. (2017). Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Watkins

Spinal deformity associated with neurodegenerative disease in adults. In Neuromuscular Spine Deformity

Cruz D, Vira S, Lafage V, Protopsaltis T, Errico TJ. (2018). New York, Thieme Publishers

New payment paradigms. In Insall & Scott: Surgery of the Knee, 6th edition

Vira S, Rana A, Patel J (2018). Philadelphia, Elsevier

• D Magazine Best Doctors in Collin County
  (2021)
• D Magazine Best Doctors in Dallas
  (2020)
• AO Spine Fellows Forum Best Poster Award
  (2019)
• Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) Resident/Fellow Educational Scholarship
  (2019)
• Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery 2019 Young Surgeon Educational Grant
  (2019)
• Gold Humanism Honors Society, NYU Langone Medical Center Chapter
  (2014)
• Musculoskeletal Research Award
  NYU School of Medicine (2012)
• Cecil Rhodes Scholarship Finalist
  (2009)
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar
  National Institutes of Health

• Dallas County Medical Society (2019)
• Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) (2019)
• Texas Medical Association (TMA) (2019)
• AO Spine (2018)
• North American Spine Society (2015)
• American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (2012)