His practice is focused on alleviating pain and reducing disability from spinal diseases using the least invasive effective approach to treatment. He completed medical training at UCLA and residency at The University of Rochester in New York. Fellowship training was in complex spine surgery and spinal trauma at the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals  in Philadelphia.

His practice emphasizes minimally invasive spine surgery including decompression, discectomy, fusion, and revision surgeries. He also has special interest in cervical spine reconstructions and spine deformity surgery. In addition to practicing medicine, Dr. Behrend has mentored others in the field of spine and trauma surgery having served as faculty at Virginia Tech School of Medicine and Research Institute and through ongoing research in bio-engineering at Clemson University. When he is not seeing patients Dr. Behrend enjoys teaching and clinical research in areas of patient outcomes, risk reduction, and complication prevention. He serves on the editorial board for GOS and is a member of the AAOS, and NASS. Recent publications can be found following the links below: