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(L-R) Dr. Pierre Lavertu, director of Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology at UHCMC, leads a team of surgeons which also includes Drs. Rod Rezaee and Chad Zender in the Head and Neck Cancer Center — one of the UH ENT Institute's eight centers of excellence. is focused on patients and what's best for them, as opposed to being centered on specialists," says Dr. Megerian. The UH ENT Institute is comprised of eight centers of excellence: + Ear, Hearing & Balance Center + Nose, Sinus & Allergy Center + Audiology & Cochlear Implant Center + Head & Neck Cancer Center + Pediatric Ear, Nose & Throat Center + Laryngology & Voice Disorders Center + Community Ear, Nose & Throat Center + The ENT Translational & Basic Science Research Center In the Ear, Hearing and Balance Center, co-directed by Dr. Megerian and Dr. Maroun Semaan, a wide variety of tumors and other disorders of the brain and skull base are diagnosed and treated both nonsurgically and surgically. Common problems include acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, arteriovenous malforma- tions, and cholesteatomas. Each new case is discussed by a team of specialists who tailor a plan of care to the needs of the individual patient. Because many of the team members also hold appointments in the UH Seidman Cancer Center, the Neurological Institute coordination of care for patients with such tumors is seamless. In the Nose, Sinus and Allergy Center patients with breathing difficulties, sinus headaches, allergies, chronic infection, congestion, deviated septums and much more receive diagnostic and therapeutic services. In most cases, patients are treated non-surgically, but a full range of advanced surgical procedures including balloon sinu- plasty are available onsite. Trans-nasal anterior skull base procedures are also performed by this group. Drs. Chad Zender, Tony Reisman and Hassan Abbass are vital to this Center. The Audiology and Cochlear Implant Center, led by Dr. Gail Murray in collabora- tion with Drs. Megerian and Semaan, is one of the largest in the nation, performing more than 600 implants (100 in 2011 alone) since the center formally opened in 2002. Many of the patients have been babies with profound hearing loss. "Currently, we are one of the biggest multi-disciplinary teams providing this type of care to children and families, and we are seeing wonderful results," says Dr. Megerian. The Head and Neck Cancer Center provides care for patients as part of the UH Seidman Cancer Center, where advanced technology-based treatments such as CyberKnife radiosurgery, Gamma Knife radiosurgery, and TomoTherapy are avail- able. Minimally invasive robot-assisted ENT surgery is also offered here, as is access to national clinical trials. Dr. Pierre Lavertu director of Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology at UHCMC, leads the team which also includes Drs. Rod Rezaee and Chad Zender. JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012 MDNEWS.COM MD NEWS Cleveland-Akron-Canton | 21