I'm Peter Pellionisz, a psychiatrist and biomedical engineer developing fMRI-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) for neuropsychiatric and mood disorders. I trained on the research track at UCSF Psychiatry, graduating with distinction in neuropsychiatry and interventional psychiatry, and currently lead a LIFU clinical trial for major depression at UCSF and an fMRI-guided TMS trial for chronic tinnitus at Stanford.
I began as a builder of imaging instruments. As an undergraduate at UCLA, I worked on selective plane illumination microscopy for rapid 3D imaging of live specimens; as an MD–PhD student in the UCLA–Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program, I earned a PhD in Bioengineering developing Dynamic Optical Contrast Imaging (DOCI) — a label-free, fluorescence-lifetime imaging technology for identifying tumor margins in real time during head and neck cancer surgery. That work produced two patents, more than a dozen publications, and a system that made it into the operating room.
Residency brought me to psychiatry, where the same instinct — use physics and imaging to make treatment precise — found its natural home. I completed the research track at UCSF Psychiatry with distinction in neuropsychiatry and interventional psychiatry. Today my work centers on noninvasive brain stimulation combined with functional imaging: fMRI connectivity-guided TMS targeting, low-intensity focused ultrasound for treatment-resistant depression, and kilohertz transcranial magnetic perturbation (kTMP) for anhedonia. I collaborate closely with colleagues in neurology, radiology, and head and neck surgery, and gained practical interventional psychiatry experience through UCSF and Acacia Clinics.
The thread across all of it is the same: bringing measurement to medicine's least measurable specialty, so that the right circuit gets the right treatment.
Developing personalized, imaging-guided neuromodulation for mood and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Leading a clinical trial of non-invasive low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) neuromodulation for drug-resistant major depressive disorder — precise, incisionless stimulation of deep brain targets that TMS cannot reach.
Leading an fMRI connectivity-guided TMS trial for chronic tinnitus at Stanford, using individualized functional connectivity to place stimulation targets — in collaboration with neurology, radiology, and head and neck surgery.
Kilohertz Transcranial Magnetic Perturbation (kTMP) is a new class of noninvasive electromagnetic brain stimulation. We are evaluating it as a treatment for the anhedonic dimension of major depression.
Dynamic Optical Contrast Imaging (DOCI): fluorescence-lifetime contrast for intraoperative tumor margin and parathyroid identification in head and neck oncology. NIH R01-funded; two patents; clinically translated at UCLA.
Plus conference proceedings (SPIE, OSA, IEEE EMBC), three book chapters, and two patents in optical imaging for image-guided surgery. Full bibliography available on request.
Plus 15+ poster presentations at national and regional meetings (AACR, IEEE EMBC, COSM, Triological Society, Gordon Research Conference).
I have supervised junior residents at the UCSF Bipolar Clinic and inpatient psychiatry services, and mentored undergraduate and medical students in the biomedical engineering laboratory at UCLA — several of whom have gone on to medical school and residency at UCSF and Stanford, including in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery.
I also co-founded Sling Health LA, a student-run medical device incubator integrating medical, law, engineering, and business graduate students in longitudinal device-development projects.
I welcome conversations at the intersection of psychiatry, neuroimaging, and medical devices — especially with clinicians, researchers, and builders working on brain stimulation, functional imaging, or interventional psychiatry.