Dr. Ken Yonemura completed his medical school training was at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. He did his internship and neurosurgery training at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center (UCIMC) and was then selected for a spinal surgical fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, AZ. He returned to UCIMC as an assistant professor, and then joined his prior chairman in private practice in Seattle at the Northwest Neuroscience Institute. He returned to academic medicine at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. He was granted a dual appointment in the Department of Orthopedics and is an integral part of the Institute for Spine Care at the University Hospital. He recently accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Utah.

Early in his career, Dr. Yonemura developed a strong interest in interbody fusion techniques and became one of the original surgeons involved in the FDA evaluation of threaded fusion cages. He helped pioneer minimally invasive surgical techniques for both the cervical and lumbar spine. In addition to complex spinal disorders and minimally invasive spine surgery, he developed a strong interest in the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral nerve disorders. His current research interests include, the development of new interbody fusion and minimally invasive surgical techniques, as well as motion preservation techniques and frameless navigation for spinal surgery. As a result of his active involvement in USCF bicycle racing, he has been a staunch supporter of the national Think First brain and spinal cord injury prevention program and had previously been the medical director for the chapter in upstate New York.