Allan Hamilton, MD, FACS

Executive Director, ASTEC

Clinical Professor, Radiation Oncology

Regents Professor, Surgery

Professor, Neurosurgery, Psychology and Electrical and Computer Engineering

Allan Hamilton, MD, FACS is a Harvard-trained brain surgeon whose earliest research included a role as Commanding Officer of the U.S. Army Medical Research Expedition to Mt. McKinley, where he has and his team studied brain performance at altitudes of 16,000 to 20,000 feet and temperatures as low as negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Dr. Hamilton holds four professorships at UArizona in Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology, Psychology and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has authored six non-fiction works and has won numerous literary awards. He remains the only U.S. scholar to be honored with the Lars Leksell Award for "pioneering scientific discovery in stereotactic neurosurgery," and in 1997, he and his team treated the first 20 patients in the world with extracranial stereotactic radiosurgery. He was awarded the title of Senior Fellow by the International Albert Schweitzer Foundation for his medical work in Africa, and in 2011, he was named to the post of Distinguished Senior Fellow to the Medical Institute for Innovation in Washington, DC. He was recognized with the Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and in 2019, he was awarded the highest academic accolade and bestowed the title of Regents Professor. 

Dr. Hamilton studied creative writing for two years under Rod Serling, the creator of the TV series The Twilight Zone. For 19 years, he also worked as the senior medical consultant for the hit TV medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. His insights in his non-fiction writing have helped shape and inspire educators, tech leaders, politicians, military strategists, designers, filmmakers, ecologists and scientists around the world. He has been decorated by several countries for his scientific achievements and philanthropic work and served in advisory capacities to the White House under two presidential administrations. He has appeared on the NBC Today Show, ABC News, CNN and PBS NewsHour and is a regular guest on National Public Radio. 

Dr. Hamilton has authored more than twenty medical textbook chapters, nearly one hundred peer-review research articles, and has served on the editorial board of several medical journals. He serves as the Executive Director of the Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center (ASTEC) that provides advanced educational and training technologies to the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health. He has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in advanced medical engineering and artificial intelligence in health care.