Category: Innovation and Impact

Anatomical model of vertebrae with an artificial spinal disc implant.

Finding fusion: an engineer and neurosurgeon unite to improve spinal surgery

It is the summer of 2023, and Dr. Stephen Smith sits face-to-face with a model skeleton in the Engineering North building on the University of Notre Dame campus. Smith is a neurosurgeon at Beacon Health System’s Memorial Hospital in downtown South Bend, Indiana, about a mile southwest of the …

A scientist wearing safety glasses and blue gloves uses a plasma cleaner to treat a material sample. A purple plasma beam is visible.

Research worth fighting for

As one of America’s leading research institutions, Notre Dame has long been at the forefront of finding answers to the most pressing questions facing our communities. With our unique mission to be a force for good, Notre Dame researchers are making discoveries that make our nation healthier, …