Julie G. Pilitsis, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.

Biography

Julie G. Pilitsis, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., is Dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Being the first woman neurosurgeon to become a Dean, Dr. Pilitsis oversees the college's innovative medical student and graduate medical education programs in partnership with a consortium of five regional hospitals. Dr. Pilitsis is also a board-certified practicing neurosurgeon who is a national expert in multidisciplinary pain, and movement disorders including Parkinson's disease.

As Vice President for Medical Affairs, Dr. Pilitsis is leading the FAU Health Network initiative. Under her stewardship, FAU Health Network is well positioned to promote premium academic healthcare to the community while addressing the challenges of shortages in medical workforce in the region. Guided by vision “Of the Community, For the Community”, Dr. Pilitsis’ compassionate care for patients permeates to the communities in the region, where she continues to tackle complex health challenges and create meaningful change.  

Prior to joining FAU, Dr. Pilitsis served as division chief of functional neurosurgery and chair and professor of the basic neuroscience department at Albany Medical College in New York. Dr. Pilitsis is the 2023 president of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), the first woman ever to lead the organization. She is also President Elect of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN). She maintains an NIH sponsored research program focused on device optimization for neuromodulation and has published over 200 journal articles, 4 books, and numerous chapters.

Education

• 2007: Fellowship- Functional Neurosurgery from Rush University Medical Center
• 2002: PhD, Physiology from Wayne State University
• 1998: MD, Medicine from Albany Medical College

Work History

Professional Experience

• Chair Dept of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College
• Professor of Neurosurgery, Albany Medical College

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

• MacDonell J, Patel N, Rubino S, Ghoshal G, Fischer G, et al. Magnetic resonance-guided interstitial high-intensity focused ultrasound for brain tumor ablation. Neurosurg Focus. 2018 Feb;44(2):E11. PubMed PMID: 29385926.
• Ghoshal G, Gee L, Heffter T, Williams E, Bromfield C, et al. A minimally invasive catheter-based ultrasound technology for therapeutic interventions in brain: initial preclinical studies. Neurosurg Focus. 2018 Feb;44(2):E13. PubMed PMID: 29385920.
• Khan H, Pilitsis JG, Prusik J, Smith H, McCallum SE. Pain Remission at One-Year Follow-Up With Spinal Cord Stimulation. Neuromodulation. 2018 Jan;21(1):101-105. PubMed PMID: 29058361.
• Gee LE, Walling I, Ramirez-Zamora A, Shin DS, Pilitsis JG. Subthalamic deep brain stimulation alters neuronal firing in canonical pain nuclei in a 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rat model of Parkinson's disease. Exp Neurol. 2016 Sep;283(Pt A):298-307. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2016.06.031. Epub 2016 Jul 1. PubMed PMID: 27373204.
• Walling I, Smith H, Gee LE, Kaszuba B, Chockalingam A, et al. Occipital Nerve Stimulation Attenuates Neuronal Firing Response to Mechanical Stimuli in the Ventral Posteromedial Thalamus of a Rodent Model of Chronic Migraine. Neurosurgery. 2017 Oct 1;81(4):696-701. PubMed PMID: 28402559

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Scholarly Activity

Current Research

Basic Science: development of MRI guided robotic assistance for stereotactic procedures; understanding the effects of subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) for pain in 6OHDA-lesioned rats; improve delivery of focused ultrasound for treatment of chronic pain and Parkinson's Disease.

Clinical Research: understand effects of various spinal cord stimulation (SCS) waveforms using quantitative sensory testing and electroencephalography (EEG); examine efficacy of ziconotide in patients with neuropathic pain; understand how DBS frequency stimulation changes using functional MRI.

Other research interests: device improvement, novel treatment of chronic pain.

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