Hispanic Brain and Spine Tumor Program For Professionals

For Professionals

Customizing patient care applies not only to individualizing medical treatments, but also to recognizing how cultural differences influence a person’s care. Many Hispanic patients prefer to communicate in Spanish, and like to involve other family members in their treatment decisions and interactions with their care team. Cultural awareness and a shared language make our Hispanic patients feel at home during a difficult time.

In the case of international patients, the quality of medical care can be compromised by suboptimal communication. Moreover, fluid communication with local physicians at the country of origin is vital for optimal continuity of care. Given the large Hispanic community in Chicago, and the international Latin American patient population that travels to the United States for brain and spine tumor treatment, we have created a Hispanic Brain and Spine Tumor Program.

Integrating standard medical care with leading-edge novel therapies

Brain and spine tumors can be devastating and lethal diseases, in spite of optimal standard surgical and medical management. Our world-class facilities include the possibility of performing complex surgery, radiosurgery, conventional radiation therapy, and we pride ourselves in being one of the few centers in the United States with a proton-beam radiation facility, which allows for targeted radiation minimizing radiation injury for diseases such as chordoma. We also believe in offering the patients “outside of the box” treatments. We bring a unique world-class multidisciplinary management in which surgery, radiotherapy and medical therapies are integrated with leading-edge experimental therapies that bring hope for difficult scenarios. The breath and scope of our team and the innovative clinical trial portfolio set us apart from any other program.

The Hispanic Brain and Spine Program is led by Adam Sonabend, MD, a native Spanish-speaking neurosurgeon with expertise in brain tumors, and Jean-Paul Wolinsky, MD, a neurosurgeon with expertise in spine tumors. Roger Stupp, MD, a world-renown neuro-oncologist, complements our surgical interventions with medical management of brain and spine tumors.

Referrals

If you are a physician looking to refer a Spanish-speaking patient, please contact Adam Sonabend, MD, directly.

Adam Sonabend, MD
Phone: 312.695.6200
Email: adam.sonabend@nm.org
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