Dr. Steven Craig Kirshblum, MD

Dr. Steven Kirshblum is nationally recognized for his work in the area of spinal cord injury rehabilitation and research. He joined Kessler Institute in 1990 and currently serves as Medical Director of the West Orange campus, as well as the Director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program. Dr. Kirshblum received his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School and completed a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, where he was a chief resident. He became board certified in PM&R in 1991 and was one of the first physicians in the country to receive special certification in spinal cord injury medicine in 1998. As the Co-Project Director of the Northern New Jersey Model Spinal Cord Injury System, one of only 14 federally-designated model systems in the country, Dr. Kirshblum oversees the rehabilitation research and patient care in collaboration with our research affiliates. He is also a professor of …rehabilitation medicine at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and serves as both the program director for the Spinal Cord Injury Medicine Fellowship program and associate director of the PM&R residency program. He is also on staff at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ. A prolific writer and researcher, Dr. Kirshblum has written and co-authored more than 85 articles in peer-reviewed publications and has completed over 20 book chapters, 60 abstracts, and monographs on his major research interests in spinal cord injury and education issues. He is editor of the textbook, Spinal Cord Medicine and has also written a childrens book on spinal cord injury. One of the most widely respected physicians in his field, Dr. Kirshblum has delivered more than 400 lectures nationally and internationally. He graduated with the Deans award from medical school and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He has been honored for both his clinical and administrative work, including being named a leading doctor in a number of medical guides, including the "Best Doctors in America," "Best Doctors in New York" and "Best Doctors in New Jersey" every year for the last decade. Dr. Kirshblum has been honored by many spinal cord injury societies, and organizations including the American Paraplegia Society, Association of Academic Physiatrists, World Congress of Rehabilitation International and Cerebral Palsy Society of New Jersey. He is the secretary/treasurer for the American Paraplegia Society and a member of numerous advisory boards and foundations for spinal cord research.