Meet the Chair
Dr. Evanthia Bernitsas is tenured Professor and the Chair in the Department of Neurology at Creighton University School of Medicine. She is also the Director the Catholic Health Initiative (CHI) Neurological Institute. Prior to joining CHI/Creighton in September 2024, she had been the Division Chief in NeuroImmunology/MS, the MS Fellowship Director, and Professor in the Department of Neurology at Wayne State University School of Medicine for over 13 years. She played a pivotal role in expanding the MS center of excellence and fostering translational research at WSU. She has also been serving as the Chief Editor in the NeuroImaging section of the “Brain Sciences” for more than 10 years, a section that has significantly grown under her leadership.
As a nationally and internationally recognized leader in her field, Dr. Bernitsas has been the Principal Investigator in numerous clinical trials leading to the FDA-approval of immunomodulatory drugs in MS. Her investigator-initiated studies focused on new imaging biomarkers and addressed disparities in health care. She has been funded by industry, the NMS society, and PICORI. For more than 3 years, she served in the IRB board and the Department of Defense MS grant review committee.
Dr. Bernitsas earned her MD degree from the Aristotelian Medical School, Thessaloniki, Greece, followed by a residency at Case Western University School of Medicine in Cleveland and a fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
She is a board-certified Neurologist, a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and American Neurological Association. Over her career she has mentored more than 80 trainees and junior faculty. She is the recipient of many awards, including the WSU college physician-scientist award, the Chair’s Award, Patient Choice Award and the Best Teacher Award. She is the author of more than 100 peer reviewed manuscripts and 3 book chapters. Dr. Bernitsas is deeply committed to clinical excellence, innovation, research and education of the next generation of neurologists.
