2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26108508D

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 252

Offered March 5, 2026

Celebrating the life of Demetrios A. Julius, M.D.

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Patrons—Carr, Cousins, McQuinn and Schmidt; Senators: Deeds, Jones and VanValkenburg

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WHEREAS, Demetrios A. Julius, M.D., a distinguished health care professional who served and supported military veterans as a longtime employee of the Richmond Veterans Administration Medical Center, died on July 5, 2025; and

WHEREAS, Demetrios Julius was born in Greece and relocated to the United States with his family at a young age; he grew up in Ohio and graduated from Western Reserve Academy, then earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard College and a medical degree from the University of Cincinnati; and

WHEREAS, in the late 1970s, Demetrios Julius and his wife, Janice, spent 19 months in Iran, where they opened a groundbreaking overseas mental health clinic for Americans; they witnessed the events of the Iranian Revolution firsthand and were on the last commercial flight out of Tehran before Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power; and

WHEREAS, after returning to the United States, Demetrios Julius worked at the National Institutes of Health, specifically the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and led a team that developed naltrexone, which is used to treat alcohol and opioid use disorders; and

WHEREAS, in 1979, Demetrios Julius relocated to Richmond and joined the Richmond Veterans Administration Medical Center, where he served as chief of psychiatry and established a sleep disorders program; and

WHEREAS, Demetrios Julius subsequently founded the Sleep Disorders Center of Richmond, the first fully accredited sleep center in Central Virginia; he also served as a professor of psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and held an academic appointment at the University of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, a true citizen of the world with a deep-rooted passion for international relations, Demetrios Julius took part in numerous conflict resolution meetings in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia before and after the fall of the Soviet Union and helped lead summits on relations between Greece and Turkey and Israel and Palestine; and

WHEREAS, Demetrios Julius will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife, Janice; his sons, Anthony and Aristides, and their families; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Demetrios A. Julius, M.D.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Demetrios A. Julius, M.D., as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.