Shaleen Vira, MD

Specialties

Orthopaedic Surgery

Spine Surgery

Languages

English

Bio

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 UTSW Frisco Hospital, Zale Lipshy 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 200 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 and less aggressive approach to surgery. I tend to operate on a fewer percentage of patients than 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 it as the #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 America 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.

He 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 communities.

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.