SAN DIEGO, Dec. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA), the leader in spine technology innovation, focused on transforming spine surgery with minimally disruptive, procedurally-integrated solutions, announced today the expansion of its renowned surgeon education program into a Clinical Professional Development (CPD) global platform for surgeons that integrates surgical training with professional development. This new initiative will be led by Michael Piccirillo, a recognized expert in designing and executing spine educational curriculums and surgeon communities in more than 80 countries across the world.

In 2003, NuVasive revolutionized spinal surgery by introducing an innovative lateral approach with its XLIF® technology. To better serve the spine surgeon community, NuVasive created and delivered a new standard in surgeon training. Through new product design, surgeon education and a leading sales team, XLIF is now the world's leading procedure for the lateral approach. NuVasive is again taking the lead and evolving its education platform to better match the lifelong training needs and challenges facing today's and tomorrow's communities of spine surgeons.

The NuVasive CPD team will support the Company's surgeon partners for the lifetime of their careers. The new training programs will facilitate the development of a diverse set of competencies that spine surgeons will need in the future and will deliver challenging programs that are surgeon-oriented, personalized and fit within a systematic pathway. Additionally, a core component of the expanded platform is peer-to-peer engagement to encourage collaboration of ideas and innovation among the surgeon participants and drive further engagement.

"As a leader in disruptive spine technologies, our commitment to surgeon training and education programs has been a key differentiator for NuVasive and has enabled us to introduce less invasive approaches to spine surgery, while also adapting to surgeon needs in the changing landscape of the industry," said Gregory T. Lucier, chairman and chief executive officer of NuVasive. "The newly designed and expanded program is being rolled out globally to meet the needs of our surgeons and I'm excited to see the direction Michael is taking this critical and differentiating part of our business. Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in global educational strategy to NuVasive to make our CPD platform the most sought-after program available to surgeons around the world."

Piccirillo joins NuVasive with more than 30 years of experience in developing strategy, building educational platforms and designing management solutions in the health care field. Piccirillo most recently served as managing partner at VALUGEN GmbH in Zurich. VALUGEN provides project-based services to help hospitals transform their spine centers into Centers of Excellence. While there, Piccirillo worked with a number of academic organizations to redesign their educational programs and created strategies for patient organizations. Before his time at VALUGEN, Piccirillo was the executive director at AOSpine and AOTrauma, the spine and trauma divisions of the AO Foundation, a Swiss-based non-profit organization which is partnered with and provides educational support for Synthes (DePuy Synthes). During his time at the AO Foundation, Piccirillo transformed both divisions into the largest communities of spine and trauma surgeons, respectively. Key to this success was the development of novel lifelong learning education and faculty programs, integrated research projects and the establishment of the World Forum and Global Spine Congress events. Piccirillo was also directly responsible for creating the AOSpine/AOTrauma competency curriculum, faculty development, and fellowships, as well as surgeon assessment programs.

"Tomorrow's spine surgeon will be very different from yesterday's and even today's—not only will they need to be outstanding surgeons, but they will also need to be great managers and leaders. Education is critical in changing the behaviors, competencies and performance of tomorrow's surgeon," said Piccirillo. "I'm thrilled to join NuVasive with its documented history in creating a disruptive change to the traditional approaches to spine surgery and spine education. Our new education platform will continue this theme, and I'm particularly excited to implement a novel approach to facilitate a surgeon's lifelong engagement with NuVasive."

Picirillo graduated from London University with a degree in medical microbiology and supplemented his science training with specific professional courses as well as marketing and business administration courses to move into health care business management. He also received a diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a business administration degree from the University of Warwick.

About NuVasive
NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA) is the leader in spine technology innovation, focused on transforming spine surgery and beyond with minimally disruptive, procedurally-integrated solutions designed to deliver reproducible and clinically-proven surgical outcomes. The Company's portfolio includes access instruments, implantable hardware, biologics, software systems for surgical planning, navigation and imaging solutions, magnetically adjustable implant systems for spine and orthopedics, and intraoperative monitoring service offerings. With $962 million in revenues (2016), NuVasive has an approximate 2,300 person workforce in more than 40 countries serving surgeons, hospitals and patients. For more information, please visit www.nuvasive.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
NuVasive cautions you that statements included in this news release that are not a description of historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which, if they do not materialize or prove correct, could cause NuVasive's results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties which contribute to the uncertain nature of these statements include, among others, risks associated with acceptance of the Company's surgical products and procedures by spine surgeons, development and acceptance of new products or product enhancements, clinical and statistical verification of the benefits achieved via the use of NuVasive's products (including the iGA® platform), the Company's ability to effectually manage inventory as it continues to release new products, its ability to recruit and retain management and key personnel, and the other risks and uncertainties described in NuVasive's news releases and periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. NuVasive's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available at www.sec.gov. NuVasive assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which it was made.

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SOURCE NuVasive, Inc.