Dr. Frank Phillips, an internationally-known minimally invasive spine surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, has received the prestigious 2021 Leon Wiltse Award from the North American Spine Society (NASS). NASS is the largest global multidisciplinary organization dedicated to spinal care. This award, given to one spine surgeon each year, recognizes excellence in leadership and/or clinical research in spine care.

In addition to running a busy clinical practice in Chicago, Dr. Phillips is also Professor, Director, Section of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, and Director, Division of Spine Surgery, at Rush University Medical Center. He has been at the forefront of minimally invasive spine surgery and has helped develop and pioneer a number of these techniques that have become widely adopted.

A spine surgeon for more than 20 years, he continues to be a prolific researcher, has contributed to clinical research in spine care, and has authored more than 200 clinical papers. He has published quality scientific data evaluating minimally invasive spinal procedures (including the first study on use of lateral trans-psoas fusion for degenerative scoliosis and early studies on cervical disc replacement biomechanics and clinical outcomes). In recent years he has published extensively on value-based spine care. Dr. Phillips has trained more than 50 spine fellows, many of whom have gone on to leadership positions. He has directed many educational courses and has served as Annual Meeting Program Chair for CSRS, ISASS and SMISS. He has been involved in leadership roles with numerous spine societies and is the Immediate Past President of ISASS.