Medical Team

Beat Wälchli is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon, specialized in the treatment of spinal diseases, and a board-certified chiropractor.
Areas of expertise include the conservative and surgical treatment of degenerative changes of the spine (e.g. endoscopic and microsurgical disc surgery, minimal invasive spinal surgeries and complex revision surgeries).

He obtain his chiropractic degree at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in Toronto,Canada, and the Swiss chiropractic board certification in1987.

After graduation from medical school in Zurich, he obtained the title of a board certified orthopaedic surgeon in 2002.
He followed residencies and a fellowship program at the University Clinic Balgrist, Zurich, Inselspital Bern, Schulthess Clinic Zurich and the University hospital Zurich.

Since 2004 he has consulted and treated patients in his own practice as well as for the hospital Zollikerberg.

Since January 2025 he is also Head of Departement of spine surgery at the Zollikerberg Hospital.

He has remained active at the Zentrum für Chiropraktik Zurich throughout his professional career, currently acting as a consulting partner.

Filippo Mandelli completed his medical studies in Milan before continuing his further training in Switzerland and obtaining the title of specialist in orthopaedic surgery and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system. Early on in his training, he developed a special interest in spinal surgery, especially in the surgical treatment of scoliosis in adulthood.

During his specialist training, he worked at several medical institutions in Switzerland, including the hospitals in Bellinzona, Lugano, Zurich and Basel. In 2018, he became staff surgeon and junior consutlant for Spinal Surgery at the University Children’s Hospital Basel, and later took over the position of staff surgeon and junior consultant at the University Hospital Basel.

From 2021 to 2022, Filippo Mandelli completed a 1-year fellowship program at the Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi in Milan – the leading spinal surgery center in Italy. There, he deepened his expertise in the treatment of complex spinal deformities in adulthood as well as in minimally invasive lateral approaches to the spine under the guidance of Dr. Pedro Berjano and Prof. Claudio Lamartina.

In addition to his clinical work, Filippo Mandelli conducts research in the field of cervical spinal stenosis. He is particularly interested in the functional limitation of patients with age-related narrowing of the spinal canal in the cervical spine. In this context, he is working on a scientific research project at the University Hospital Basel.

On 1 June 2025, he will take up his position as Stuff Surgeon and Senior Consultant in Spinal Surgery at Zollikerberg Hospital and will be appointed to the Department of Spinal Surgery at Zollikerberg Hospital together with Beat Wälchli and Anthony Ghaffari care for patients in Beat Wälchli’s spine office.

Filippo Mandelli speaks fluent Italien, German and English.

Anthony Ghaffari M.D. (USA), M.B.B.S. (AUS), is a board-certified (FMH) neurosurgeon. He has advanced training in spine surgery and is an international fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (IFAANS) in the US.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and studies in Human Physiology (1986-1992), Dr. Ghaffari worked from 1992 to 1997 in the US in cancer research at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Subsequently, he attended the University of Sydney School of Medicine in Australia. He completed several clinical rotations in the US at multiple renowned medical institutions such as the Harvard Medical System Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Massachusetts, the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale Arizona and the Emory Hospital in Atlanta Georgia, to name a few. Dr. Ghaffari obtained his medical degree (MBBS) from the Sydney University and his medical board certificate (MD) from the United States.

In 2002, Anthony Ghaffari came to Switzerland and took a position as a post-doctoral fellow in neuro-oncology research at the University of Basel. This was followed by neurosurgery residency at the Basel University Hospital from 2003 to 2009. Upon completion of his residency and to hone his surgical skills, Dr. Ghaffari moved to Germany to work at the Head Clinic of the University of Heidelberg. He then returned to Switzerland in 2012 in the position of staff surgeon and junior consultant in the department of orthopedics/spine surgery at the Olten County Hospital. Since 2016, he has been working independently as an attending physician at the Private Clinic Bethanien in Zurich and the Salem and Siloah Hospitals in Bern and has gained extensive experience in minimally invasive surgery.

Anthony Ghaffari has been an accredited attending physician at Zollikerberg Hospital since April 2023 and, together with Dr Beat Wälchli and Dr Filippo Mandelli, is committed to the well-being of patients with all his experience and expertise.

Anthony Ghaffari speaks fluent German, English and Persian.