Publications:30
Video Visit Available
Accepting New Patients
- Mount Sinai Doctors
- Treats Children & Adults
- Video Visit Available
- Accepting New Patients
James D Lin, MD, MS
Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, Spine Surgery
About Me
Dr. James D. Lin is a board-certified, fellowship-trained spine surgeon in New York City, seeing patients at Mount Sinai Spine Center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Mount Sinai Staten Island. He specializes in the full spectrum of spinal care — from minimally invasive procedures to complex reconstructive surgery — and is dedicated to helping patients regain mobility, reduce pain, and return to the activities they love.
Dr. Lin treats a wide range of conditions affecting the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. His areas of expertise include spinal deformities (such as scoliosis, kyphosis, and flatback syndrome), cervical spine disorders (such as herniated discs, myelopathy, and OPLL), lumbar conditions (such as spinal stenosis and disc herniations), and spinal tumors. He is highly experienced in advanced surgical techniques including spinal deformity correction, cervical disc replacement, laminoplasty, robotic and computer-assisted spine surgery, and minimally invasive outpatient procedures.
Dr. Lin completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in electrical engineering at Stanford University before earning his medical degree at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Columbia University Medical Center, where he gained broad experience in pediatric and adult spine surgery as well as orthopedic trauma. He then completed an advanced spine surgery fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center, where he also served as an assistant attending physician and clinical instructor.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Lin is dedicated to advancing spine surgery through education and research. He serves as associate director of the Mount Sinai Spine Surgery Fellowship and has published extensively on topics such as adult idiopathic scoliosis, motion-preserving spine surgery, and modern surgical techniques. His work has been presented at international spine conferences and recognized with the Whitecloud Award nomination at the International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques.
Dr. Lin is known for his thoughtful, patient-centered approach. He partners closely with each patient to create personalized treatment plans designed to maximize function, accelerate recovery, and achieve the best possible long-term outcomes.
In the News:
- Dr. Lin leads study on sex-based differences in spinal screw placement
- Dr. Lin discusses tech neck
- Dr. Lin leads research study on adult idiopathic scoliosis
Patient Stories:
Language
Chinese (Mandarin), English
Position
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | Orthopedics
Hospital Affiliations
- Mount Sinai Morningside
- Mount Sinai Beth Israel
- Mount Sinai Brooklyn
- The Mount Sinai Hospital
- Mount Sinai West
Clinical Focus
- Cauda Equina Syndrome
- Central Cord Syndrome
- Cervical Myelopathy
- Chronic Neck Pain
- Compression Fracture
- Diskectomy / Discectomy
- Herniated Disk
- Intervertebral Diskectomy
- Kyphosis
- Laminectomy
- MRI - Back / Spine
- Neck Fracture
- Neck Sprain
- Orthopedic Consultation (Spine)
- Orthopedic Second Opinion
- Sciatica
- Scoliosis
- Spinal Cord Second Opinion
- Spinal Fusion
- Spinal Stenosis
- Spine Fracture
- Spine Pain
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spondylolysis
- Vertebral Fracture
Education
BS, Stanford University
MS, Stanford University
MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Residency, Orthopaedic Surgery
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
Fellowship, Spine Surgery
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
Certifications
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Insurance Information
Accepted insurance may vary by the doctor’s office location. Please contact the office directly to obtain the most up-to-date insurance information.
- 1199 SEIU
- AETNA - Commercial
- AETNA - Medicare
- CIGNA Healthcare
- Centivo
- EmblemHealth - GHI-PPO
- EmblemHealth - HIP
- EmblemHealth - HIP-Medicare
- Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield - Commercial/Exchange
- Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield - Medicare
- HealthFirst Medicare
- Horizon NJ
- Magnacare-Health Care
- Medicare - NJ
- Medicare - NY
- Multiplan PHCS
- Oscar
- Oxford - Freedom and Liberty
- Senior Whole Health
- United Health Care - Commercial
- United Health Care - Empire Plan
- United Health Care - Oxford Care
- United Health Care - Top Tier
Physicians who provide services at hospitals and facilities in the Mount Sinai Health System might not participate in the same health plans as those Mount Sinai hospitals and facilities (even if the physicians are employed or contracted by those hospitals or facilities).
Information regarding insurance participation and billing by this physician may be found on this page, and can also be obtained by contacting this provider directly. Because physicians insurance participation can change, the insurance information on this page may not always be up-to-date. Please contact this physician directly to obtain the most up-to-date insurance information.
Insurance and health plan networks that the various Mount Sinai Health System hospitals and facilities participate in can be found on the Mount Sinai Health System website.
Publications
Selected Publications
- The iliac kickstand screw: anatomic CT analysis of screw trajectory and osseous corridor for screw placement. Jonathan Lee, Alexander J. Schupper, Jeffrey Okewunmi, Wesley H. Bronson, Jeremy M. Steinberger, Lawrence G. Lenke, James D. Lin. British Journal of Neurosurgery
- The Fragility of Statistical Findings in Cervical Disc Arthroplasty: a Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Emmanuel C. Megafu, Michael N. Megafu, Janet T. Nguyen, Elisabeth Point Du Jour, Wesley H. Bronson, James D. Lin, Andrew C. Hecht, Robert L. Parisien. Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery
- Postoperative Opioid Use and Prescribing Patterns among Patients Undergoing Cervical Laminectomy with Instrumented Fusion versus Cervical Laminoplasty with Reconstruction. Dhruv S. Shankar, Jinseong Kim, Dennis M. Bienstock, Michael Gao, Yunsoo Lee, Nicole J. Zubizarreta, Jashvant Poeran, James D. Lin, Saad B. Chaudhary, Andrew C. Hecht. Global Spine Journal
Patient Experience Star Ratings and Comments
The Patient Experience Star Rating reflects our patients’ perception of how well their Mount Sinai provider communicated with them during an office visit. The Star Rating is based on patient responses to three questions on a patient experience survey, a standardized questionnaire sent to verified patients and distributed by a third party vendor, Press Ganey. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score.
Care Provider’s Explanation
4.9 out of 5
Care Provider’s Concern
5 out of 5
Likelihood to Recommend Care Provider
4.9 out of 5
Industry Relationships
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology companies, and other outside entities to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their outside financial relationships.
Below are financial relationships with industry reported by Dr. Lin during 2024 and/or 2025. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Consulting or Other Professional Services Examples include, but are not limited to, committee participation, data safety monitoring board (DSMB) membership
- SeaSpine
- Medtronic, Inc
Mount Sinai’s faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.