About Our Center    

"It makes you an accepting person, understanding of others' pain. Not just physical, but psychological pain. We live in a society where perfect bodies and faces are set as an ideal. We forget that it is what's inside that makes a person beautiful."
— Joe, a patient in The Craniofacial Center

Welcome to The Craniofacial Center at The University of Illinois Medical

The Craniofacial Center is one of the oldest and largest facilities in the country dedicated to the team approach for the care of infants, children, adolescents, and adults with cleft lip and palate and other congenital craniofacial conditions. We also provide surgical and prosthetic rehabilitation for those with head and neck cancer or who have suffered craniofacial trauma as well as dental care for medically compromised and developmentally challenged adults.

The Center was founded in 1949 by orthodontist Dr. Samuel Pruzansky with a grant from the Federal Children's Bureau. Its original mission was to document craniofacial growth in children with cleft lip and palate but soon turned to patient care. Under Dr. Pruzansky's guidance, The Center's reputation grew across the country and around the world. He fostered the teamapproach for cleft and craniofacial care; specialized care provided by an interdisciplinary team of medical and dental specialist and allied health care professionals in a multi-clinic environment at a single location on the medical campus of the University of Illinois Medical Center on the near Westside of Chicago.

Patients are seen on referral from their primary care doctors, allied health care specialists, health care agencies, or they may be self referred for care. The Center accepts most medical insurance plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid.

As an integral part of the University of Illinois Medical Center, The Craniofacial Center’s mission is patient care, education, and research. There are three clinical units within The Center to meet patient care needs; The Cleft Craniofacial Clinic , The Maxillofacial Prosthetics Clinic , and The Hospital Dental Clinic . As part of a major academic institution in a busy, urban environment , The Craniofacial Center offers several unique educational and training programs through its affiliation with the University of Illinois College of Medicine, the largest medical school in the country. The Center is committed to laboratory and clinical research that will improve the quality of care for its patients. Several cleft and craniofacial treatment protocols that are practiced worldwide were pioneered at The Craniofacial Center.

The cornerstone of The Center remains its team and the wide array of clinical services offered in a single location. Our patients present with multiple and complex needs. The team approach is the best way to provide comprehensive care to meets these functional, cosmetic, and psychosocial needs. Members of our team have extensive experience in cleft and craniofacial care and offer state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment services.

Financial support is crucial for The Craniofacial Center to continue to provide quality service and remain as a leader in healthcare. For this reason, we work closely with individual donors, corporations, and health care foundations to obtain grants, donations, and gifts to support the clinical, educational, and research programs at The Center. Among these supporters is the Face the Future Foundation, a private, not-for-profit organization whose sole mission is to support the Craniofacial Center.

Thank you for visiting our website. Please view the tabs on the left side of the page and contact us with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you.