Dr. Sibel Demir-Deviren is currently a Clinical Professor specialized in non-surgical treatments of spinal disorders in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco and a Physiatrist at the UCSF Spine Center. Upon graduation from Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey (1993) with a degree in Medicine, she went on to complete her residency at the Ankara Education and Research Hospital in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Continuing her postgraduate work in this area, Dr. Demir-Deviren arrived at the University of California, San Francisco, in 1999, where she was a Visiting Scholar Research Associate in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. She has joined the faculty as an Assistant Clinical Professor in 2002. Dr. Demir-Deviren has particular clinical interest in non-operative spine care for patients with spinal disorders including disc herniation, spinal canal stenosis, neural foraminal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, and spondylolisthesis. Her research interests include Modic I degenerative disc disease and the impact of paraspinal muscles on patients’ clinical outcomes in spinal disorders. She has received research support from the University of California, San Francisco (NOVA Grant), industry, and donations from patients. Her research has contributed to over 15 peer-reviewed journal publications and over 40 scientific abstract presentations for both national and international conferences, including the North American Spine Society, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the International Society of Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine. She is a member of the North American Spine Society and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Demir-Deviren won the best pain and spine papers awards at the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation two years in a row, in 2014 for “The Effect of Paraspinal Muscle Denervation on Balance of Patients with Lumbar Spinal Canal Stenosis” and in 2015 for “Negative Impact of Modic I Degenerative Disc Disease on Lumbar Paraspinal Muscles.” She also won the special poster presentation award at the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine in 2015 for “Paraspinal Muscles and Sagittal Spinopelvic Alignment in Patients with Degenerative Spondylolisthesis” and in 2016 for “Comprehensive Non-surgical Treatments Decrease the Need for Spine Surgery in Patients with Degenerative Spondylolisthesis.” Her two research presentations were nominated for the best paper award at North American Spine Society Annual Meeting, 2015.

Since arriving at UCSF, Dr. Demir-Deviren has received extramural funding for her research from Pfizer and Nocimed. In 2015, she became the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Pfizer vaccine study: A Phase 2b, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Staphylococcus Aureus 4-Antigen Vaccine (SA4Ag) in Adults Undergoing Elective Posterior Instrumented Lumbar Spinal Fusion Procedures. She is also the PI for the Nocimed study, “Clinical Development and Evaluation of the NociscanTM Diagnostic Software Suite for Post-Processing MRI and MR Spectroscopy (MRS) of Lumbar Intervertebral Discs to Diagnose Disc Pain and Degeneration.” Since 2015, Dr. Demir-Deviren has been a scientific consultant for the Independent Safety Committee and the Immunoscience Collaborative Steering Committee of ISTO Technologies, Inc., an orthobiologics company dedicated to improving patient quality of life by revolutionizing cartilage and bone repair.