• After graduating from high school with honors for athletic and academic achievements in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Dr. Rafael Levin completed three years of compulsory military service as a distinguished soldier in the Israeli Airforce.

• Upon his honorary discharge from service, Dr. Rafael Levin attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA from 1990 to 1994.

• During his four years at M.I.T, Dr. Levin completed both an undergraduate and graduate degrees in Material Science and Engineering with emphasis on polymer physics and chemistry for various Bio-materials applications.

• Dr. Levin participated in basic research projects some involving collaborations with the Harvard School of Medicine as part of the HST program.

• He spent his last academic year at M.I.T writing his Engineering Master’s thesis in collaboration with ATT Bell-Laboratories in NJ on the optimization of a photo-polymerization system used for fiber optic applications.

• While at M.I.T, Dr. Levin also minored in Economics, and in 1991 was honored as a Burchard scholar, a highly selective award given for excellence in the Humanities and Social sciences. Based on his academic performance and community service, Dr. Levin was awarded membership in Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society in 1992. In 1994 Dr. Levin graduated M.I.T at the top of his undergraduate and graduate classes.

• Pursuing both academic and clinical careers in the fields of bio-technology and medicine, Dr. Levin was accepted to the prestigious combined MD / Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bio-engineering department in Baltimore, MD. While continuing to be involved in basic and applied bio-engineering research as a medical student, Dr. Levin decided to focus his future career on direct patient care as an orthopedic surgeon. His passion for practicing clinical medicine and delivering care to his own patients forced him to give up on the opportunity to complete his Ph.D. Having achieved recognition for academic and clinical performance, Dr. Levin received his MD degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1998.

• Dr. Levin returned to Boston in 1998 to complete his surgical internship at Boston University Medical Center. He continued his residency training in Orthopedic surgery for the following four years at the program affiliated with Boston University School of Medicine. Hospitals included in his training were Boston Medical Center, the VA hospitals in the Boston area, the Lahey Clinic, and Shriner’s Hospital in Springfield, MA. Throughout his residency, Dr. Levin continued to take active rolls in clinical research projects. He presented his work at research conferences, authored several research publications in general orthopedics and spine surgery, and wrote a chapter in a comprehensive spine surgery textbook. Dr. Levin completed his Orthopedic surgery training in 2003 with excellent reviews and recommendations that prompted his acceptance to the prestigious spine fellowship training program at NYU / HJD in Manhattan, NY.

• Seeking to sub-specialize in the surgical treatment of spinal disorders, Dr. Levin trained under some of the most nationally renowned orthopedic spine surgeons at the NYU / HJD spine fellowship program in Manhattan, NY. During his fellowship training program Dr. Levin continued to devote some of his time to clinical research projects, academic presentations, and publications. More importantly, Dr. Levin was trained in the most advanced spinal surgical techniques including minimally invasive procedures, motion preserving surgery, and contemporary approaches to the surgical treatment of spinal deformity, degenerative, and traumatic conditions.

• Orthopedic Surgery

• After completing his spine surgery training in 2004, Dr. Levin joined the practice of Dr. Ben-Yishay, the founder of Comprehensive Spine Care. Ever since, Dr. Levin has been focused on conservative minimally invasive surgical and non-surgical treatment of patients with traumatic and degenerative spine disorders.

• In 2010 Dr. Levin was appointed as the Head of Spine Surgery at Hudson Crossing Surgery Center, Fort-Lee, NJ. He continues to serve in this position currently.

• In 2013 Dr. Levin has become the senior partner at Comprehensive Spine Care.

• In 2014 Dr. Levin was appointed as Chief of the Division of Spine Surgery at Hackensack UMC at Pascack Valley, Westwood, NJ. He continues to serve in this position currently.

• Dr. Levin is seeing patients in all office locations of Comprehensive Spine Care. In addition, he evaluates patients with work related spine injuries at Concentra Clinic locations in West New-York, Jersey City, and Edison, NJ. He is on staff at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ, and Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack and in Westwood (HckensackUMC at Pasckack Valley,) NJ. Dr. Levin has operative privileges also at Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains, NJ, and Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ. Dr. Levin performs outpatient minimally invasive spinal procedures at Hudson Crossing Surgical Center in Fort-Lee, NJ, where he serves as the acting head of the spine service.

Dr. Levin is currently the senior Partner at Comprehensive Spine Care. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgeons (ABOS), and is an active member of the North American Spine Society (NASS) and the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS). Dr. Levin’s professional goals and career aspirations are to continue to advance the surgical treatment of patients with spinal disorders. He believes in clinical progress by using modern and minimally invasive surgical techniques on appropriately selected patients to achieve better outcomes in terms of pain reduction and improved function.

• Dr. Nomaan Ashraf completed his college education with honors at The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Following his Ivy League college education he completed his medical education while simultaneously getting a business degree as part of the Tufts University School of Medicine’s MD/MBA program in Boston, MA.
• After medical school Dr. Ashraf completed his internship in Surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell) in Manhattan. He then completed his Orthopaedic Surgery training at the Carolinas Medical Center under the tutelage of worldwide leaders in Orthopaedic Surgery. While there he was selected by the Department to serve as Administrative Chief Resident in his final year. During his time there he also completed a year- long “Fellowship in Orthopaedic Surgery Basic Science and Clinical Research”.
• Following his Orthopaedic training Dr. Ashraf moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles where under the direction of Rick Delamarter, MD, he received world class training in adult spine surgery including scoliosis surgery, complex revision surgery, minimally invasive surgery, dynamic stabilization techniques and both fusion and non-fusion alternatives. He has also received extensive training in motion-preserving spine surgery such as disc replacements for the lumbar and cervical spine and has participated in a number of clinical device trials.

• Orthopedic Surgery

• Dr. Ashraf is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan where he instructs and trains surgical residents in the Orthopaedic Surgery department as well Orthopaedic Surgeons who are performing their Fellowship sub-specialization in Spine Surgery.