Dr Zach Pennington is a resident in neurologic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, receiving university honors and being named Phi Beta Kappa as a junior. He then matriculated to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During his time, which included a dedicated research year, his research focused on the management of spinal tumors and adult spinal deformity under the mentorship of Dr Daniel M Sciubba and Dr Nicholas Theodore. For his work he was honored with the Harvey Cushing Medical Student Research Award. Upon graduation he joined Mayo Clinic, where his current research continues to focus on spinal oncology and adult spinal deformity. He has published over 250 papers to date and 30 book chapters. His work has been presented at multiple national and international meetings and has garnered multiple awards, including multiple Kuntz Scholar awards at the AANS/CNS Spine Summit.