Mayfield Neurosurgeon Named to Novalis Circle Expert Group

Ronald Warnick, MD, a neurosurgeon with Mayfield Brain & Spine and and Co-Director of the Gamma Knife® Center at The Jewish Hospital-Mercy Health, has been named the ninth member of the international Novalis Circle Expert Group. The elite group of specialists is responsible for developing and managing the Novalis Certified Program. Dedicated to safety and treatment quality in stereotactic radiosurgery, the independent certification program has already certified 48 institutions around the world.

The Novalis Certified Program focuses on high standards of clinical practice by:

• promoting independent external review of specialized procedures and workflows
• focusing on protocols that emphasize quality improvement
• helping centers assess current practices through a confidential review program

Dr. Warnick explains, "Stereotactic radiosurgery is a complex, multistep procedure that requires a robust quality assurance program. The Novalis Certification process involves a systematic, proactive analysis that provides external validation of a center's safety culture thereby ensuring the highest level of patient care."

Dr. Warnick's career as a physician- researcher has spanned the entire spectrum of focused radiation techniques for brain tumors and other lesions. Since 1991 he has performed more than 3,500 stereotactic radiosurgery procedures with Novalis® or Gamma Knife® platforms. His clinical studies published in 2009 confirmed the accuracy of frameless radiosurgery using Novalis Radiosurgery. Dr. Warnick is a board member of both the International Radiosurgery Research Foundation and the Stereotactic Radiosurgery Registry (NeuroPoint Alliance and Brainlab).

According to Andrew Ringer, MD, Chairman of the Board at Mayfield, "Dr. Warnick has devoted his entire career to the compassionate care of brain tumor patients while searching for a cure through clinical trials, translational research, and education of future leaders. This accomplishment further exemplifies his position as a global thoughtleader in stereotactic radiosurgery."

Mayfield Brain & Spine is the full-service patient care provider of the Mayfield Clinic, one of the nation's leading physician organizations for neurosurgical treatment, education, and research. With more than 30 specialists in neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, pain management, and physical therapy, Mayfield Brain & Spine treats 25,000 patients from more than 30 states in a typical year. Mayfield physicians specialize in the treatment of back and neck pain, sciatica, Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, NPH, epilepsy, brain and spinal tumors, stroke, moyamoya, brain aneurysms, Chiari malformation, scoliosis, kyphosis, facial pain, facial twitch, trauma, concussion, spinal cord injury, and carpal tunnel. As leading innovators in their field, Mayfield physicians have pioneered surgical procedures and instrumentation that have revolutionized the medical art of neurosurgery for spinal diseases and disorders, brain tumors, and neurovascular diseases and disorders.