Summit Medical Institute Research

Advancing Care Through Innovation

Summit Medical Institute is dedicated to integrating cutting-edge research with the highest standard of patient care. Our team is committed to developing innovative treatments and improving clinical outcomes.

Where Research Meets Real-World Impact

Summit Medical Institute is dedicated to integrating cutting-edge research with the highest standard of patient care. Our team of experts, including leading clinicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals, is committed to developing innovative treatments and enhancing clinical outcomes for the communities we serve. Through collaborative research initiatives and rigorous clinical trials, we continually advance our understanding of complex conditions, translating scientific discoveries into practical solutions that improve patient quality of life.

Non-specific Chronic Low Back Pain Study

  • We are working with Zynex on a study that looks at a pain management option for individuals age 18-70 with chronic low back pain who are not candidates for surgery. You must not be taking opioids for the study duration, and must not have used a home TENS unit previously. The study lasts for 8 weeks with 3 office visits and daily journaling. You would be compensated for your time, and get to keep the device after completion of the study. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us!

  • We are currently taking participants for this study. If you are interesting in helping, please fill out our contact form above. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Bowden at jenniferb@summitbrainandspine.com

Nutrition Education Study

  • If you are having surgery with Dr. John Edwards, you are eligible to participate in the study looking at the impact of 15 minutes of nutritional education, as well as a nutritional supplement we developed for better nutrition before and after surgery. We would love to have you participate!

    Participants will be consented into the study, fill out two forms at both their preop and initial post op appointments, and respond to a texted survey 2 days after surgery. Half of the participants will receive nutrition education focused on nutrition in surgery. We will be reaching out, but please contact us if you are interested!

  • We are currently taking participants for this study. If you are interesting in helping, please fill out our contact form above. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Bowden at jenniferb@summitbrainandspine.com

Form Validation Study

  • If you have been a long-time patient at Summit, you may have noticed the forms asking about your ability to do certain things have changed. We hope they are easier to complete (less to read, simple scale) and that they give us and you a better long-term picture of how you are doing. We will be using these on the Align app so you can have your data too! For the research study, we are asking people to fill out both the new and “old” forms. For this study we are excited to partner with Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine and support developing medical students’ research skills.

  • We are currently taking participants for this study. If you are interesting in helping, please fill out our contact form above. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Bowden at jenniferb@summitbrainandspine.com

Our Team

  • Jennifer Bowden, PhD, RDN

    Director of Research

    Read Bio

  • John Edwards, MD

    Chief Medical Officer

    Read Bio

At Summit, we collaborate with many other providers - physical therapists, pain doctors, chiropractors, primary care physicians and more - to put together your care plan.

Summit’s Journal Articles and

Selected Peer-Reviewed Conference Publications

Bowden JA, Powers R, Jensen J, Chugg C, Rawson C, Junsanto-Bahri T. “Validation of Two Highly Accessible Pain Instruments to Assess Pain and Disability in Spine Patients” Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 2/2025.

Crittenden V, Edwards J, Bowden J. “Case Report: Pars Defect resulting in 29- year History of Painful Anterolisthesis Resolved with Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion with Minimally Invasive Posterior Fixation” Intermountain Journal of Translational Medicine. 1(2):21

Bowden JA, Heath S, Curszon C, Snow G, Edwards JR. “Gastric Emptying in an Amino Acid Containing Preoperative Supplement” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2024.

Heath S, Edwards JR, Snow G, Bowden JA. “Patient Acceptance and Tolerance of an Amino Acid Containing Preoperative Supplement” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2024.

Powers R, Jensen J, Chugg C, Rawson C, Junsanto-Bahri T. “Validation of Two Novel Pain Instruments to Assess Pain and Sinability in Spine Patients” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2024.

Chugg C, Powers R, Rawson C, Bowden J, Anderson B. “Anterior Chest Wall Pain with Spinal Cord Stimulation: A Case Report” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2024.

Bowden JA, Edwards JR, 2023 “Single-Site Experience with Multilevel Hybrid Cervical Surgery” Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA, 2/2024.

Clark KA, Edwards JR, Bowden JA, 2023, “Sacroiliac Joint Pain Following Lumbar Fusion” Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA, 2/2024.

Heath S, Curzon C, Edwards JR, Bowden JA, 2023, “Do Comorbidities in Lumbar Fusions Impact Outcomes?” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2023.

Sutherland L, Heath S, Dodge J, Edwards JR, Bowden JA, 2023, “Exploring the Impact of Patient Care Coordinators in Clinical Practice” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2023.

Edwards JR, Bowden JA, 2023 “Minimally Invasive 2-Phase Reduction and Single Level Fixation in High Grade Spondylolisthesis: A Case Study” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2023.

Edwards JR, Bowden JA, 2023, “Many Minds: A collaborative approach to patient care and developing provider interrelationships” Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting Dallas, TX, 2/2023

Bowden JA, Reed J, Wilson S, Barlow K, Edwards JR, 2023, “Suction-based localized autograft bone collection reduces allograft use and patient cost in TLIF surgeries” Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting Dallas, TX, 2/2023

Bowden JA, 2022, “Preliminary development of a novel perioperative supplement to enhance patient outcomes and recovery” Summit - ORS Ambassadors Regional Symposium Sundance, UT 9/2022.