About Me
Pete Batra, MD, FACS, is a fellowship-trained rhinologist and skull base surgeon with over 20 years of experience in academic clinical medicine. He is the chairperson of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. He holds the Stanton A. Friedberg, MD, Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology and is a professor at Rush Medical College. He is director of the Rush Sinus, Allergy and Asthma Center, which is committed to elevating the care of interrelated upper airway conditions that afflict millions of patients across the country. He currently serves as president of the American Rhinologic Society, the largest international organization dedicated to education, research and advocacy for sinonasal and skull base disorders. He also serves as chair of the Rush University Medical Group Finance Committee.
Batra completed his internship and residency training at Northwestern University and then pursued fellowship training in rhinology and skull base surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. He was on faculty at the Cleveland Clinic for seven years and served as section head of Nasal and Sinus Disorders during his tenure. He was then recruited to University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where he served as associate professor and co-director of the Comprehensive Skull Base Program in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery for five years. He assumed his current role at Rush in 2014 and has served as professor and chairperson for over 10 years.
He has been extremely active in the academic arena over his entire career. He has co-authored over 220 peer-reviewed articles, invited reviews and book chapters. He is a committed researcher with multiple areas of research focus, including microbiome analysis in diseased and heathy sinuses, endotyping and structured histopathology characteristics in chronic sinusitis, outcomes for minimally invasive skull base surgery, and health care disparities in airway disorders. He has been active in education and trained dozens of residents and fellows. He has delivered over 400 lectures nationally and internationally on various topics, including chronic sinusitis, frontal sinus surgery and skull base surgery. He has co-edited a comprehensive textbook on sinus disease titled Practical Medical and Surgical Management of Chronic Rhinosinusitis. His distinctions include Best Doctors of America, Top Doctors of Illinois, American Academy of Otolaryngology Distinguished Service Award (twice), American Academy of Otolaryngology Honor Award, and Cleveland Clinic Innovator Award. Batra is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and is a fellow of the Triological Society, the American College of Surgeons and the American Rhinologic Society.
Batra firmly believes in the old adage, “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” It is this humanistic element of medicine that ultimately drives his passion in clinical medicine. He believes strong doctor-patient relationships are built on mutual trust and shared decision making to achieving high-quality patient outcomes. He has performed close to 4,000 endoscopic sinus and skull base procedures since 2003. His special clinical interests include management of refractory sinusitis and nasal polyps, revision sinus surgery, management of CSF rhinorrhea, endoscopic orbital surgery and minimally invasive skull base surgery for benign and malignant tumors.
