2025 Physician of the Year Dr. Sean Pauzauskie
Dr. Sean Pauzauskie, MD, is a hospital neurologist with UCHealth who completed medical school in Kansas, and residency in California and Texas. He lived in Fort Collins as a child and relocated as soon as he had a choice, to serve a community he cares about and be nearer his family. His interests in medicine range from translational research to public health and policy, having worked in Washington, D.C., prior to medical school on these issues. He also completed a medical history fellowship in Germany, studying post-reunification health policy through the lens of the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Pauzauskie is excited to work with such a great group of physicians, residents, and students as those he’s found in Northern Colorado. He’s married to his wife, Jen, a hospital chaplain, and has a Siberian husky, named Tika. In his free time he enjoys fishing, hiking, biking, college basketball, reading and writing fiction, and spending time with family and friends.
As a practicing hospital based neurologist, past president of the Northern Colorado Medical Society and current president elect of the Colorado Medical Society, he was successful in drafting legislation protecting individuals' neural rights. On April 17th, 2024, Governor Polis signed HB24-1058 that made the state of Colorado first in the nation to extend its state consumer data privacy law, the Colorado Privacy Act, to protect neural data.
Neurotechnology refers to devices that can record or alter the activity of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. Neurotechnology devices can be either invasive (implantable) or non-invasive (wearable). While these devices have existed within clinical (medical) and research settings for decades, they are increasingly being developed and deployed outside health care settings for the consumer market with potential abuses by for-profit companies.
As of late 2025, three additional U.S. states (California, Montana, and Connecticut) have followed Colorado lead to enact specific laws or amended existing consumer privacy laws to protect neural data. Additionally, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates unanimously adopted a new policy at their 2025 Annual Meeting in Chicago on June 11 to protect patients' neural data.
In Dr. Pauzauskie own words: "HB24-1058 provides a simple, reasonable, balanced approach towards the protection of patients, and clear standards to promote and incentivize innovation in the coming age of neurotechnology for Colorado. Colorado takes care of its own and as a member of the Colorado physician community, I felt that I needed to help protect the data that makes us us."