Frank Phillips, MD, USA

Dr. Frank Phillips is The Ronald Dewald Endowed Professor of Spinal Deformity, Director of the Division of Spine Surgery and Director of the Spine Fellowship program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.  He completed medical school in South Africa, followed by an Orthopedic Surgery residency at The University of Chicago and a Spine Fellowship at University Hospital in Cleveland under the tutelage of Dr. Henry Bohlman. Dr. Phillips specializes in minimally invasive cervical and lumbar reconstructive and deformity surgery. He has expertise in motion preserving procedures and served as a principle investigator in FDA trials on cervical disc replacement.

Over his career, Dr. Phillips has participated in the development of and pioneered a number of minimally invasive spinal techniques that are now widely used. He holds over 20 patents in this space.  He regularly teaches and lectures to spine surgeons nationally and internationally.   He has published over 200 scientific peer-reviewed articles and over 50 book chapters, has received numerous research awards and grants and frequently directs spinal educational courses around the world.  Dr. Phillips was named one of the top 28 spine surgeons in the country by Orthopedics this Week and is listed in Becker’s Orthopedic Spine and Pain Management as one of the nation’s Top 100 spine surgeons and specialists.  Dr. Phillips is a founder of and is currently president of the Society of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS), past president of the International Society for Advanced Spine Surgery (ISASS) and the Society of Lateral Access Surgery (SOLAS) and has been the Program Chair for CSRS Annual meeting.  In 2021 he received the Leon Wiltse Award for his lifetime contributions to Spinal Surgery from the North American Spine Society (NASS).