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Julie Pilitsis MD, PhD, MBA

Professor, Neurosurgery
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery
Headshot of Julie Pilitsis
jpilitsis@arizona.edu

Julie Pilitsis, MD, PhD, MBA, is a board-certified neurosurgeon, clinician-scientist, and the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. She also serves as the physician executive for functional neurosurgery for the Banner Neurosciences service line, helping shape the future of specialized neurological care across the Banner Health system.

Dr. Pilitsis has a distinguished track record of building medical programs and leading healthcare institutions. Prior to joining the U of A faculty, she served as dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs strategic initiatives at Florida Atlantic University, where she championed the university's regional healthcare network.

Her previous leadership roles also include:

  • Albany Medical College (New York): Served as professor, chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, and division chief of functional neurosurgery. While there, she completed her MBA with a focus on health informatics and graduated from the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.
  • Residency & Fellowship: Completed her neurosurgery residency at Wayne State University—where she also earned her PhD in physiology—followed by a specialized fellowship in functional neurosurgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

As a dedicated clinician-scientist, Dr. Pilitsis maintains an active, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored research program. Her laboratory focuses on neuromodulation, a therapy that uses medical devices to alter nerve activity to treat chronic pain and neurological disorders.

With three active NIH grants, she works on optimizing these advanced medical devices to improve patient safety and long-term outcomes. Dr. Pilitsis has shared her findings widely, publishing more than 250 journal articles, five textbooks, and numerous book chapters.

A passionate advocate for her field and her patients, Dr. Pilitsis holds major leadership positions in several national medical societies:

  • American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN): President
  • North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS): Immediate Past President (she was also the first woman appointed to the NANS board of directors and founded its "Women in Neuromodulation" section)
  • American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) / Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS): Former chair of both the Joint Section on Pain and the Joint Section for Women in Neurosurgery (WIN)