Find a Top Orthopedic Surgeon Near Me in Santa Monica, CA – Book an Appointment Instantly

Kushagra Verma, MD, MS, FAAOS, is a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon at Advanced Spine Care in Los Alamitos and Marina Del Rey, California. He is fellowship-trained in complex spine surgery and has many years of experience. He offers surgery when it’s the best option to ensure the highest quality of life for his patients.

Dr. Verma earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Cornell University School of Engineering in Ithaca, New York, and a master’s degree in molecular biology from the NYU Graduate School of Arts & Sciences in New York City. He completed medical school at NYU School of Medicine in New York City.

Dr. Verma also completed an orthopedic surgery residency at Thomas Jefferson University’s Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and an adult and pediatric spine fellowship (with a focus on spinal deformities) at the University of California at San Francisco. 

Dr. Verma has been recognized many times for his expertise. He was selected by The Leading Physicians as a Top Orthopedic Surgeon of the Spine. He also received the Top Doctor Award in Los Alamitos and numerous other professional recognitions for his excellence. 

Dr. Verma is an experienced college educator with experience at the University of Washington in Seattle, Long Beach Memorial in Long Beach, California, and the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. 

He specializes in treating spinal anomalies, including spinal stenosis, scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniation, and flatback syndrome. Dr. Verma is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS). He has contributed to nearly 50 peer-reviewed publications. 

Dr. Verma spends as much time as patients need to ensure they feel heard with all of their questions addressed. He fully explains their diagnoses, thoroughly reviews all imaging results, and discusses detailed treatment options — always giving patients a voice in their treatments. He uses the latest technological advances and procedures to ensure long-lasting outcomes.

Dr. Verma welcomes new and existing patients to Advanced Spine Care and looks forward to optimizing their spinal health and overall quality of life.

About Dr. Unal

Berkay Unal, MD, is a fellowship-trained, board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive, arthroscopic surgery with an emphasis on shoulder and knee disorders, sports injuries, and arthritis. He treats patients at Samimi Orthopedic Group at its Los Angeles area offices in Brentwood, West Covina, and Sherman Oaks, California. 

Dr. Unal completed his undergraduate studies at The University of California, Berkeley, earning his bachelor’s degree in molecular and cell biology. Following his undergraduate studies, he held a research position at The University of California, Irvine, where he was involved in multiple

publications in molecular biology and infectious disease. 

Dr. Unal realized his true passion was medicine and direct patient care. He attended medical school at The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, receiving his medical degree in 2011. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Dr. Unal did an additional year of subspecialty training in sports medicine and arthroscopy at The University of Kentucky's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship in Lexington. 

Dr. Unal started his practice in Bakersfield, California, treating high-complexity injuries. He brings his experience and expertise to the Samimi Orthopaedic Group team. 

Dr. Unal believes in a non-surgical approach as the initial step in treating most orthopedic conditions. He believes in a personalized approach and takes pride in providing knowledge and guidance to ensure his patients feel comfortable and informed.

He is a member of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.

Dr. Unal enjoys spending time with his wife and his two daughters, weight lifting, hiking, exploring nature, snowboarding, and a variety of recreational sports in his free time. He likes to maintain an active lifestyle and aims to help his patients do the same.

Navid Ghalambor, MD, is a Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon specializing in shoulder, elbow and wrist surgeries, with special emphasis on the treatment of shoulder and elbow conditions.
​He received his medical degree from the University of Southern California - Keck School of Medicine.
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He subsequently completed his orthopaedic surgery residency training at the University of Southern California – Los Angeles County Medical Center. Dr. Ghalambor underwent fellowship training in shoulder arthroscopy and reconstruction at the renowned Harvard Shoulder Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston. He also underwent an adult arthritis and reconstruction fellowship at the UCLA/Orthopaedic Hospital in Los Angeles.

​Dr. Navid Ghalambor was awarded the graduate research fellowship during his medical school training at USC. During his orthopaedic surgery training at USC, he was chosen by the faculty to be a chief resident of the program, which was one of the largest orthopaedic residencies in the country. Dr. Ghalambor has served as an Assistant Clinical Professor of orthopaedic surgery at USC for 12 years and during this time he has been involved in the training of orthopaedic surgery residents at the USC Sports Service. He has also served as an instructor of orthopaedic surgery at the Harvard Orthopaedic Surgery Program.

​Dr. Ghalambor has published numerous articles in peer reviewed orthopaedic surgery journals including articles on shoulder arthroplasty, instability and stiffness. He has given numerous local and national presentations including those at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
His research has been presented at international orthopaedic surgery meetings. Dr. Ghalambor is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, California Orthopaedic Association, Codman Shoulder Society, and Southern California Society for Surgery of the Hand. He has been voted as being one of the “top doctors” in Orange County by Orange Coast Magazine and Orange County Medical Association. Dr. Ghalambor has also been chosen as one of the Southern California’s top doctors by Castle Connolly Medical, LTD.

​​Dr. Ghalambor enjoys trail running and hiking. One of his most memorable sports experiences was being the head coach of his son’s AYSO soccer team for 4 years and leading his BU10 Team to local and regional finals. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and oil painting.

Click to view Dr. Ghalambor's website

Duke Hasson, M.D. is an orthopaedic surgeon fellowship-trained in Adult Reconstructive surgery.  He received his undergraduate degree from SMU, a doctor of medicine from The University of Texas at Houston, and completed a residency in orthopaedic surgery at The University of Colorado, Denver.  Following his residency, Dr. Hasson received an additional year of training doing a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction at the prestigious Insall Scott Kelly/NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases.

Dr. Hasson specializes in disorders of the hip and knee, complex revisions of painful previous hip and knee surgeries, knee arthroscopy, trauma, and general musculoskeletal conditions.

Dr. Hasson specializes in robotic joint replacements. He utilizes the MAKO robot for all his hip and knee replacements. He is the only doctor in Orange County using the robot for anterior hip replacements.

Considered one of the top physicians in his field, Dr. Steve Mora is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports related trauma, knee, shoulder and arthroscopic treatment of the hip and the elbow.  He has a passion for treating and preventing injuries related to mixed martial arts and soccer. Dr. Mora has unique perspective on orthopedic surgery, having suffered from serious orthopedic injury himself that required multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery time. He knows on a personal level what his patients are going through both physically and emotionally.

Although he has extensive surgical training, Dr. Mora takes a generally conservative, patient-tailored treatment approach, offering non-operative options wherever possible. However, when surgery is necessary, his patients can rest assured that it will be handled with leading-edge technology.

Because of his expertise, Dr. Mora is a frequent lecturer on sports injuries, and has been published extensively on sport injury related topics. He is a member of the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Dr. Mora speaks fluent Spanish and is the team doctor for the Pro soccer team the Anaheim Bolts, Foothill High School, and Professional UFC fighters.

For more info go to www.myorthodoc.com 

Specialty

• Orthopedic Knee and Shoulder Specialist
• Knee, Elbow and Hip Arthroscopy

Subspecialty

• Sport Medicine
• Cartilage Restoration

Special Expertise

• Complex Knee and Shoulder Reconstruction
• Partial Knee Replacement
• Complex Cartilage Injuries of the Knee
• Sports-Related Trauma
• Arthritis

Procedures and Services:

Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery for:

– Rotator Cuff Tendon Tears including revision repair for failed Rotator Cuff Repair

– Rotator Cuff Tendon Impingement and Bursitis

– Rotator Cuff Calcium Deposits aka Calcific Tendinitis

– Shoulder Instability (Dislocations) and Labral Tears

– Shoulder Joint Arthritis and Loose Bodies

– Shoulder Joint Stiffness (Frozen Shoulder/ Adhesive Capsulitis)

– Acromio-Clavicular (AC joint) Arthritis and Pain

– Biceps Tendonitis and Tears

– Complications Resulting from Prior Shoulder Surgery 

Open Shoulder Surgery for:

– Total Shoulder Arthroplasty/ Replacement

– Partial Shoulder Replacement/ Hemi-Arthroplasty

– Shoulder Instability with Bone Loss or for failed arthroscopic repair

– Acromio-Clavicular (AC joint) Separation/ Dislocation

– Proximal Humerus Fractures

– Clavicle Fractures

– Pectoralis Major Muscle Rupture

– Acute Proximal Biceps Ruptures 

Arthroscopic Knee Surgery for:

– Meniscus Tear Repair or Excision

– Articular Cartilage Damage/ Chondromalacia

– Stiffness/ Catching After Total Knee Arthroplasty

– Patellar Pain

– Loose Bodies
 Synovitis

Open Knee Surgery for:

– Patellar Dislocation/ Subluxation (MPFL Reconstruction)

– Torn Patellar & Quadriceps Tendons

– Reconstruction of Collateral Ligament Instability

– Persistent Bursitis

– Cartilage Resurfacing including Genzyme, OATS, Fresh Allograft, Meniscus – Transplantation 

Elbow Arthroscopic and Open Procedures:

– Fractures including olecranon, radial head and coronoid fractures

– Elbow Stiffness due to arthritis and trauma

– Lateral Epicondylitis

– Persistent Bursitis

Hip Arthroscopy for the treatment of labral tears, impingement and loose bodies

Treatment of most fractures including ankle, forearm, tibia and wrist

Non-Operative Orthopedic Procedures include Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Bone Marrow Derived Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cell injections and Hyaluronic Acid Injections for the treatment of sports injuries and arthritis.

Education

University of California Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine

• Finished top of his class, earing the coveted Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society

Residency

University of Southern California (USC/LAC) Medical Center

• Gained extensive experience taking care of high energy trauma and complex fractures

Fellowship

Santa Monica Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Group

• Sports arthroscopy, shoulder, knee and cartilage

Message from Dr. Mora

"I hope to create a close patient-doctor relationship based on trust and mutual respect. I believe my patients’ medical treatment begins with their complete understanding of their condition, and I promise to do my very best to understand the cause of your pain and then provide a treatment approach that is tailored to meet your specific needs.

I believe that my success in diagnosing and treating orthopedic problems was borne out of my own personal traumatic injury to my legs. While living in Peru, I was struck by a commuter bus, severely injuring my legs and forever changing my life. I have experienced many of the same surgeries that I now perform on my own patients — and I believe this experience has allowed me to be more in tune with my patients’ concerns, symptoms and experiences.

My family heritage is Peruvian and I speak fluent Spanish."

Gregory Carlson, MD, of Restore Orthopedics and Spine Center in Orange, California, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with subspecialty training in spine surgery. He specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery for rapid recovery, including diagnosis and repair of previously failed spinal surgeries, revision surgery, and artificial disc replacement and other motion preservation techniques. He also performs microsurgical procedures for herniated discs, spinal stenosis, and other neurocompressive problems.

After completing his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology at Southern University in Collegedale, Tennessee, Dr. Carlson attended medical school in California, at Loma Linda University, graduating with Alpha Omega Alpha honors. He did his residency and first year of spine fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, and then finished a second spine fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Dr. Carlson has published numerous scientific articles on both basic science and clinical topics, and lectures extensively on spinal reconstructive topics. He continues to teach residents and orthopedic surgeons both locally and abroad. Dr. Carlson is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Carlson serves on the editorial advisory boards for Spine and The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery and regularly provides peer review services for scholarly articles that have been submitted for publication. He has received research funding for clinical and basic research projects resulting in award-winning paper presentations at a number of spine society meetings.

He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the California Orthopedic Association, the Orange County Medical Association, the American Orthopedic Association, and the Cervical Spine Research Society.

Jenna Withrow, PA-C, is a certified physician assistant at Alta Orthopedics, which has locations in Santa Barbara, Solvang, Oxnard, and  Santa Maria, California. She is committed to providing outstanding orthopedic care to individuals living in and around the central coast of California.

Jenna is a Santa Barbara native and attended Westmont College, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in kinesiology in 2011. She received her physician assistant training and Master of Health Sciences degree from the Duke University School of Medicine. She served as a primary care PA for years prior to pursuing orthopedics. 

Jenna emphasizes patient education and clear communication and views her role in medicine as a privileged opportunity to serve as a compassionate partner in patient care.

In her spare time outside of the office, Jenna enjoys surfing, reading, cooking, traveling, and being outdoors.

To schedule an appointment with Jenna and the skilled team at Alta Orthopedics, call the office or request one online today.