Chair, Spine Clinical Quality Improvement
Residency Program Director, Neurological Surgery Residency Program
Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
To see if Allan R. Martin is accepting new patients, or for assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Phone: 916-734-7463
Fax: 916-734-1770
Dr. Martin approaches each patient in the same friendly manner, with open communication and thoughtful consideration. He will ensure that all of the appropriate imaging and diagnostic tests have been performed, and he prides himself in taking the time necessary to explain the diagnosis and all treatment options. He believes strongly in patient-centered care and shared decision-making to select the best course of treatment for each individual patient.
Dr. Martin is a neurosurgeon offering specialized care for patients with complex spine conditions. His surgical practice includes treating patients with spinal deformity (e.g. scoliosis, kyphosis, spondylolisthesis), trauma, tumors, degenerative conditions (e.g. cervical myelopathy, lumbar stenosis, disc herniations), inflammatory conditions (e.g. Rheumatoid Arthritis), infections, connective tissue disorders and syringomyelia. He uses state-of-the-art technologies such as intraoperative neuro-monitoring, image-guidance, robotics, and minimally invasive surgery (MIS) to ensure that he delivers surgical treatment at the highest level of quality and safety.
Dr. Martin is a leader in advanced spinal cord imaging, technology research, and clinical outcomes research with more than 65 peer-reviewed journal publications, numerous research awards, and patents. He is an Engineer with a keen interest in technology that improves patient care and outcomes, including the investigation and clinical translation of innovative MRI methods (e.g. diffusion and myelin imaging) to characterize spinal cord microstructure and tissue injury. His research laboratory has several areas of focus, including 1) quantification of spinal cord microstructure using and other novel technologies; 2) development of clinical measures to assess spinal cord function; 3) automated image analysis; and 4) innovation of tools for surgical planning, deformity correction, image-guided surgery, and robotic surgery.
Neurological Surgery
B.Ap.Sc., Engineering Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1999
M.D., University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2011
Ph.D., Quantitative Spinal Cord MRI, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2017
Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2011-2019
Complex Spine Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2019-2020
AO Spine Spinal Cord Injury Knowledge Forum Research Award, 2022, 2023
Charles Kuntz Scholar Award, AANS/CNS Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, 2017, 2020
Post Residency Clinical Fellowship, Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF), 2019, 2020
Best Resident Paper, Canadian Spine Society (CSS), 2016, 2017
Research Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), 2016, 2017
A full list of publications for Dr. Martin can be found at:
Pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=Martin+AR%5BAuthor%5D
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VPMeoBgAAAAJ
Davies BM, Yang X, Khan DZ, Mowforth OD, Touzet AY, Nouri A, Harrop JS, Aarabi B, Rahimi-Movaghar V, Kurpad SN, Guest JD, Tetreault L, Kwon BK, Boerger TF, Rodrigues-Pinto R, Furlan JC, Chen R, Zipser CM, Curt A, Milligan J, Kalsi-Rayn S, Sarewitz E, Sadler E, Blizzard T, Treanor C, Anderson D, Fallah N, Hazenbiller O, Salzman C, Zimmerman Z, Wandycz AM, Widdop S, Reeves M, Raine R, Malone A, Gharooni A, Wilson JR, Martin AR, MG Fehlings, McNair AGK, Kotter MRN. A Minimum Data Set—Core Outcome Set, Core Data Elements, and Core Measurement Set—For Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy Research (AO Spine RECODE DCM): A Consensus Study. PLOS Medicine. 2024 Aug 22;21(8):e1004447.
Jiang Z, Davies B, Zipser C, Margetis K, Martin AR, Matsoukas S, Zipser-Mohammadzada F, Kheram N, Boraschi A, Zakin E, Obadaseraye O, Fehlings MG, Wilson J, Yurac R, Cook C, Milligan J, Tabrah, J, Wood L, Widdop S, Roberts E, Tetreault L. The Frequency of Symptoms in Patients with a Diagnosis of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Results of a Scoping Review. Journal of Neurology. 2024 May;14(4):1395-1421.
Fehlings M, Mohammed A, Evaniew N, Tetreault L, Martin AR, McKenna S, Rahimi-Movaghar V, Ha Y, Kirshblum S, Hejrati N, Srikandarajah N, Quddusi A, Moghaddamjou A, Malvea A, Rodrigues-Pinto R, Marco R, Newcombe V, Basu S, Strantzas S, Zipser C, Douglas S, Laufer I, Chou D, Saigal R, Arnold P, Hawryluk G, Skelly A, Kwon B. A Clinical Practice Guideline for Prevention, Diagnosis and Management of Intraoperative Spinal Cord Injury: Recommendations for Use of Intraoperative Neuromonitoring and for the Use of Preoperative and Intraoperative Protocols for Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery. Global Spine Journal. 2024 Mar;14(3_suppl):212S-222S.
Kwon B, Tetreault L, Martin AR, Arnold P, Marco R, Newcombe V, Zipser C, McKenna S, Korupolu R, Neal C, Saigal R, Glass N, Douglas S, Ganau M, Rahimi-Movaghar V, Harrop J, Aarabi B, Wilson J, Evaniew N, Skelly A, Fehlings MG. A Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Patients with Acute Spinal Cord Injury: Recommendations on Hemodynamic Management. Global Spine Journal. 2024 Mar;14(3_suppl):187S-211S.
Fehlings MG, Hachem L, Tetreault LA, Evaniew N, Martin AR, Ganau M, McKenna SL, Neal CJ, Nagoshi N, Rahimi-Movaghar V, Aarabi B, Hofstetter CP, ter Wengel V, Nakashima H, Kirshblum S, Rodrigues Pinto R, Marco RAW, Wilson JR, Kahn DE, Newcombe VFJ, Zipser CM, Douglas S, Kurpad SN, Lu Y, Saigal R, Samadani U, Arnold PM, Hawryluk GWJ, Skelly AC, Kwon BK. An Update of a Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Patients with Acute Spinal Cord Injury: Recommendations on the Role and Timing of Decompressive Surgery. Global Spine Journal. 2024 Mar;14(3_suppl):174S-186S.
Soufi KH, Perez TM, Umoye AO, Yang J, Burgo M, Martin AR. How is Spinal Cord Function Measured in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy? A Systematic Review. J Clin Med. 2022;11(5):1441.
Martin AR, Tetreault L, Nouri A, Curt A, Freund P, Rahimi-Movaghar V, Wilson JR, Fehlings MG, Kwon B, Harrop J, Davies B, Kotter M, Guest J, Aarabi B, Kurpad S. Imaging and Electrophysiology for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy [AO Spine RECODE DCM Research Priority Number 9]. Global Spine Journal. 2022 Feb;12(1_suppl):130S-146S.
Tetreault L, Kalsi-Ryan S, Davies B, Nanna-Lohkamp L, Garwood P, Martin AR, Wilson JR, Harrop J, Guest J, Kwon BK, Milligan J, Martinez Arizala A, Kotter M, Fehlings MG. Improving Assessment of Disease Severity and Strategies for Monitoring Progression in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy [AO Spine RECODE DCM Research Priority Number 4]. Global Spine Journal. 2022 Feb;12(1_suppl):64S-77S.
Nouri A, Tessitore E, Molliqaj G, Meling TR, Schaller K, Bednarik J, Martin AR, Vajkoczy P, Cheng J, Kwon B, Kurpad S, Fehlings MG, Harrop J, Aarabi B, Rahimi V, Guest J, Kotter M, Wilson JR, Davies B. Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Development and Natural History [AO Spine RECODE DCM Research Priority Number 2]. Global Spine Journal. 2022 Feb;12(1_suppl):39S-54S.
Tetreault L, Kalsi-Ryan S, Davies B, Nanna-Lohkamp L, Garwood P, Martin AR, Wilson JR, Harrop J, Guest J, Kwon BK, Milligan J, Martinez Arizala A, Kotter M, Fehlings MG. Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Practical Approach to Diagnosis. Global Spine Journal. EPub: 2022;21925682211072847.