[4] He is an innovator in the treatment of acute spinal cord injury as well as degenerative and congenital anomalies of the spine, taking a minimally invasive or minimal-impact approach where possible.
[7] Jenkins' present professional appointments include medical advisory board member of the Alan T. Brown Spinal Cord Injury Foundation[8] and neurosurgical consultant for players with spinal disorders for the National Football League's Retired Player Program [9] as well as the New York Jets professional football team.
He started a company, called Neurotect LLC [11] to develop the technology for prevention of spinal or orthopedic injuries, or to facilitate the extraction of accident victims trapped in a vehicle.
This company is working with his team and other collaborators to bring these safety devices to the market, with an eye on reducing the need for, or severity of, neurosurgical treatment for these accident victims.
He is a member of multiple research groups, but is known for his work in three main areas in addition to general outcomes research: Dr. Jenkins pioneered a new and minimally invasive way of performing spinal tumor surgery [13] one that reduces the risks and increases the benefits when compared to open standard surgical treatments for tumors of the spine.
[19] Dr. Jenkins, in conjunction with Dr. Patricia Bloom,[20] has developed a program to test the hypothesis that Mindfulness Meditation can reduce the need for post-operative pain medications after spinal surgery procedures.