On January 16, members of the Phoenix ARCS Chapter watched neurosurgeon Nader Sanai remove a tumor from a 71-year-old woman’s brain (with her prior permission, of course) ever so delicately over the course of an hour. We could see what the surgeon saw--we were able to look through the operating microscope and see the brain pulse with every heartbeat—and we asked questions as he explained his actions. When the tumor he had carefully loosened finally came out, we heaved a sigh of relief. And we applauded.

Dr. Sanai is one of the leaders at the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) in Phoenix, which does the highest volume of brain tumor surgeries in the United States, third highest in the world. Barrow doctors developed innovative procedures that have improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the procedure. (Three of those surgeons’ wives are members of the Phoenix Chapter: Penny Papadopoulos, Lynn Sonntag, and Nancy Spetzler. Another member, Sharon Ponce, is the mother of a BNI surgeon.) Dr. Sanai uses their techniques to perform five or more surgeries a week, but not by himself. As he demonstrated, he leads a team effort with neuro-anesthesiologists, specialty nurses, and others collaborating before, during, and after the surgery itself.

We watched the operation on a giant screen that filled one wall of the Eller Telepresence Room downstairs from the operating theater. The Telepresence Room, an innovation in operating room communications as well as medical education, was developed with support from Karl and Stevie Eller. Stevie, a member of the Phoenix Chapter, told us how her late husband became determined to use cutting-edge technology to enable visiting doctors and medical students, among others, to see and learn better. Since the Telepresence Room’s first installation decades ago, the system has been modernized four times, and it will be renovated again as technology continues to change.

After the surgery, Dr. Sanai ushered our group into an almost-finished new building for the Ivy Brain Tumor Center. By combining all the scientific and clinical specialties involved in patient care in one open-plan place, the Ivy Center plans to make drug discovery more attractive to pharmaceutical companies. The companies will be able to participate in a novel, accelerated process, and the Center will be able to offer new, developing treatments to patients. They anticipate remarkable advances in the treatment of brain tumors to come.