Mr Vallance is an Australian-trained Otolaryngologist (Ear Nose & Throat Surgeon) with an illustrious career spanning 40 years across all areas of ENT and Head and Neck surgery, focussing on the past 30 years on the sub-specialties of Head and Neck cancer and Laryngology. In 1976, he received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Melbourne and completed Otolaryngology Training in Australia to attain Fellowship to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 1984.
Neil has been Consultant Surgeon at Albury Wodonga (1984-1989), St Vincents, Melbourne (1990-1992), Monash Health and then served as Head of the ENT Department at Monash Medical Centre from 1991-2018. In 1992, he co-founded the Melbourne Voice Analysis Centre, the first privatised multi-disciplinary voice clinic in Victoria and one of only three in Australia at the time. He also holds an Honorary Senior Lecturer position at Monash University and has been a supervisor for PhD, Masters and post-graduate students over the past 10 years. Mr Vallance is a member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery (ASOHNS), American Academy of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery and Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service. He has been a member and Chairman of the Victorian State Training Committee (ASOHNS), examiner and senior examiner for RACS, and Chairman of the Board of OHNS. In 2014-2016, Mr Vallance was Chairperson of the Ethics Committee for the Royal Australian College of Surgery and National President of ASOHNS.
Neil has actively advocated and been one of the chief pioneers in Australia for the field of laryngology in both public and private health systems. His surgical experience in this field is unrivalled, having performed over 10,000 microlaryngoscopies over his career. He is committed to excellence in phonosurgical outcomes and to the development of new technologies and frontiers to improve patient management. He has initiated and convened three highly successful international laryngology meetings (2011, 2012, 2014) and ensured regular representation of this sub-speciality at ASOHNS national conferences. Along with Mr Malcolm Baxter and Dr Debbie Phyland, Neil was the co-founder of the Laryngology Society of Australasia in 2012.
Active research interests include the areas of professional voice, head and neck cancer, apnoeic ventilation, respiratory papillomatosis, benign vocal fold lesions, vocal fold paralysis and surgical outcomes-based research. Neil has published over 30 articles in internationally acclaimed, refereed journals, regularly presented research papers at National and International meetings and published book chapters in the areas of Laryngology and Head and Neck Oncology amongst other topics. He acts as a reviewer for journals in all areas of ENT, Head and Neck and Laryngology.
