As Site Director for Spinal Surgery at NYU Langone’s Department of Orthopedics in Brooklyn, and Clinical Associate Professor at the NYU School of Medicine in NYC, Dr. Gerling specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. A native of Canada, Dr. Gerling was trained by the true godfather of spinal surgery, Henry Bohlman at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where numerous spinal surgeries were innovated and refined. Fellowship training included complex degenerative disorders, including adult deformity, and traumatic disorders. He worked in the first spinal cord injury center and the busiest trauma center in North America, and Dr. Gerling has also trained with numerous plastic surgeons for cosmetic closures of surgical wounds.

American Board Certified in Orthopedic Spine Surgery since 2008 and recertified in 2018, Dr. Gerling was one of the first surgeons in America to perform fully endoscopic spinal decompression procedures, diskectomies and awake endoscopic fusions. Dr. Gerling has years of experience perfecting this revolutionary technique and performs hundreds of endoscopic spinal surgeries annually. Exceptionally low complication rates, plastic surgery closures, and rapid recoveries from surgery are the hallmark of his success along with a truly engaged relationship with patients.

Dr. Gerling’s commitment to academics, education and research includes extensive involvement in international surgical societies, publications, and the creation of the Gerling Institute, a center for musculoskeletal and neurologic disorders. An authority in cervical spine surgery and minimally invasive spinal procedures, Dr. Gerling is an educator of educators. He is President of the Federation of Spine Associations (FOSA), past president of the Brooklyn Orthopedic Society, Chairman of Education and Board member of the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), and member of numerous academic committees for the American Academy of Orthopedics, CSRS and the Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS). The Gerling Institute is a study site for clinical trials, regenerative medicine, new innovations in spine care and an education center for visiting international surgeons.