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Brett Rocos

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Orthopaedic Surgery
Box 3077, Durham, NC 27710
200 Trent Drive 5th Floor, Orange Zone Room 5316, Durham, NC 27710
Office hours 0900- 1700 Monday- Friday  

Overview


I joined the team at Duke University Health in 2022 from London, UK, where I was a Consultant Adult and Paediatric Spine Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust and Honorary Consultant Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. I completed my surgical training in in the South West of the UK and at the University of Toronto, and am fellowship trained in adult spine surgery, paediatric spine surgery, orthopaedic trauma surgery, research and healthcare management.

I am driven to support patients at every stage of their care, from clinic assessment, through surgery to discharge. Making sure that every person, adult, child, family or friend understands what’s wrong, helping them to choose the right treatment for them, and what the recovery will be like is an important priority.

My research activity focusses on finding effective new treatments for spinal disorders and bringing them to patients. Focusing on spinal deformity, I have led investigations in the UK, Canada and the USA, and I sit on the Global AO Knowledge Forum for Deformity, the International Spine Study Group and the Research Grants Committee at the Scoliosis Research Society. I have lectured in North America and Europe about the treatment of spine disorders for the Scoliosis Research Society, Global Spine Congress, AO Spine and Eurospine, and I have worked hard to produce research that improves the care for spine patients wherever they live. Lastly, I review for several orthopaedic journals and am a recent Deputy Editor of the Bone and Joint 360, a leading publication with a global readership.

I welcome collaborations across academic settings and departments, and maintain opportunities for studnets at all stages of training to become part of a clinical and research team.

Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery · 2022 - Present Orthopaedic Surgery, Clinical Science Departments
Assistant Professor in Neurosurgery · 2023 - Present Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery

Recent Scholarly Works


Integrated Electronic Architectures for Spinal Cord Stimulation: Toward Miniaturized, Adaptive, and Energy-Efficient Neural Implants

Journal article Electronics Switzerland · June 1, 2026 “Spinal cord stimulation (SCS)” is an established therapy for chronic pain and an emerging modality for functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) and other clinical applications. Despite its clinical potential, current implantable SCS systems rema ... Full text Cite

Assessing the Comparative Ability of Early Postoperative T4-L1PA Mismatch versus L1PA or T4PA Alone for Predicting Mechanical Complications or Spinal Reoperations: A Retrospective Analysis.

Journal article Spine (Phila Pa 1976) · May 21, 2026 STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective single-center study. OBJECTIVE: We aim to compare the prognostic capacity of postoperative T4-L1PA mismatch versus T4PA and L1PA alone. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The assessment of T4-L1PA mismatch, the difference between tradi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Suspected contaminant source and early deep wound infections in posterior instrumented fusion involving the lumbosacral region: a multicenter analysis.

Journal article Spine Deform · May 16, 2026 PURPOSE: Early deep wound infection complicates an estimated 4% of posterior lumbosacral fusions, increasing mortality and hospitalization costs. The objective of this study was to characterize causative organisms and risk factors of deep wound infections ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


AO Spine NA Grant Application AY 25-26

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by AO North America · 2025 - 2026

Feasibility Pilot Trial of Mindfulness in Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery (M-PASS) Using a Mobile Health Application

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health · 2023 - 2026

Fresh Tissue Lab Agreement

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Bioventus LLC · 2026 - 2026

View All Grants

Education


University of Bristol (United Kingdom) · 2006 B.M.