Summary: Gary Michelson is on the show.... Dr. Gary Michelson is a board certified orthopedic spinal surgeon, inventor of more than 990 patents throughout the world, the founder and funder of three private foundations, recipient of numerous awards, and among a small group of individuals to ever be inducted into both the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Inventors. SOCIAL LINKS (twitter, facebook, linkedin) if applicable: Michelson Medical Foundation: www.twitter.com/MichelsonMedRF www.facebook.com/michelsonmedical www.instagram.com/garymichelsonmmrf 20MM Foundation: www.twitter.com/michelson20mm www.facebook.com/Michelson20MM www.instagram.com/michelsonimpact Found Animals Foundation: www.twitter.com/FoundAnimalsOrg www.facebook.com/foundanimals www.instagram.com/foundanimals Dr. Gary Michelson is a board-certified orthopedic spinal surgeon and a Diplomat of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, as well as an inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and humane advocate. As a child, Dr. Michelson was always coloring outside the lines, infinitely curious about how things worked, and uncommonly sensitive to the needs of others. Raised by his mother and grandmother in Philadelphia, he was exposed to spinal disorders at a young age—his grandmother suffered from Syringomyelia, a debilitating spinal deformity. The disruption of the nervous system caused by this disease allowed his grandmother’s hand, resting on a hot stove, to catch fire without her noticing. Witnessing this was a pivotal event in Dr. Michelson’s young life, where he began formulating a plan to help people afflicted with similar infirmities. Despite his modest upbringing, Dr. Michelson worked his way through Temple University and medical school at Drexel University, and following a successful surgical fellowship at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, entered private practice in California as an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery. Over the next 25 years, he became world-renowned as a surgical innovator and the most prolific inventor in medical history, with over 990 patents worldwide issued to date. In the field of spinal surgery, where outcomes were unpredictable and recovery could be long and painful, Dr. Michelson’s revolutionary advancements in procedures, instruments and implants consistently led to better patient outcomes, and significantly reduced post-surgical pain, blood loss, complications and recovery time. The surgical techniques and materials developed by Dr. Michelson remain the industry standard around the world. In 2005, after selling his patents to Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company, those proceeds, together with the resolution of related intellectual property litigation, earned Dr. Michelson a place on the Forbes 400 as a self-made billionaire. The litigation, which established new precedents in the field of patent law, later became a stimulus for Dr. Michelson to create a comprehensive textbook on the subject (The Intangible Advantage: Understanding Intellectual Property in the New Economy), which he released digitally free of charge. Later, he developed an undergraduate college course, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Intellectual Property, which has been adopted by many colleges and universities throughout the country. This inspired Dr. Michelson to create the Michelson 20MM Foundation (formerly, Twenty Million Minds Foundation), funding the dissemination of free, peer-reviewed, openly-licensed digital textbooks for essential college general education courses. These textbooks, now in use in half of all U.S. colleges and universities, and more than 70 countries, have already saved students hundreds of millions of dollars. Among its related initiatives, 20MM also provides digital textbooks for the remedial education of individuals serving time in prison. After retiring from private practice, Dr. Michelson’s passion pivoted exclusively to philanthropy, advancing his philosophy that...
