Jason B. Anari, MD, is a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in the treatment of spine and chest wall disorders in children. He fell in love with the musculoskeletal system and the puzzles related to fixing fractures and correcting deformity. "While in medical school I observed a scoliosis operation and saw firsthand what goes into caring for children with spinal deformity" recalls Anari. It was there he gained a deep appreciation for how a successful scoliosis correction can benefit patients and their families. He knew then what he wanted to spend the rest of his life practicing. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from The College of New Jersey, followed by medical school at Robert Wood Johnson/Rutgers before arriving at The University of Pennsylvania for his Orthopaedic Residency. He completed his fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Anari was trained in pediatric chest wall techniques by the late Robert Campbell, MD — his mentor, friend and world-renowned pediatric orthopaedic surgeon. He is particularly interested in pediatric chest wall and spinal deformity, because the relationship a pediatric orthopaedist creates with a family with early onset scoliosis or thoracic insufficiency syndrome is special. “You get to take part of the development of the child, watching them grow (literally) as they age,” he says. He finds great satisfaction in helping children with chest wall deformities get off the ventilator through surgical intervention. That is a milestone he celebrates with the family because of the work, time and commitment they put into recovery. "Pediatric orthopaedic spine surgery is a very exciting field as lots of research is currently underway." Dr. Anari goes on to say, that some of the biggest gains in the last 20 years deal with how spinal deformity is managed in children under the age of 10 – a particular interest of his. "Historically, fusion surgery was performed in young children to prevent the curves from progressing. Now, we have new technology to allow for spine and chest wall growth, which promotes lung development and helps control spinal deformity into adolescence and adulthood." Dr. Anari spends most of his days trying to keep children out of the operating room. He gets excited about new technology and research that enables him to better manage a patient's underlying pathology, or disease, while ultimately allowing a child to be a child. His current research projects include understanding how children respond overall to chest wall surgery in thoracic insufficiency (TIS). He's working to identify which patients with early-onset scoliosis are at risk for unplanned surgery in an attempt to limit anesthesia exposure to the developing brain. Part of Dr. Anari's research also focuses on pediatric lower extremity fractures detailing the change in practice patterns over the past few decades. Another passion of his is adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Currently, he is working on the development of a classification system to evaluate radiographic outcomes following spinal fusion surgery in the modern era. Dr. Anari has presented at the International Congress on Early Onset Scoliosis (ICEOS), Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA), and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).