Cleveland Clinic Innovations - About Us - Commercialization Council

The Commercialization Council consists of Cleveland Clinic medical, research, and business staff. It meets monthly to provide policy and operational guidance to Innovations.

	Chris Coburn Vice-Chair Executive Director, Cleveland Clinic Innovations
	Nancy Albert Ph.D., CCNS, CCRN, CNA Director of Nursing Research and Innovation		Ernest Borden, M.D. Vice-Chair, Taussig Cancer Center
	Brian Davis, Ph.D. Director, Medical Device Solutions, Biomedical Engineering		Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D. Chair, Lerner Research Institute
	Inderbir Singh Gill, M.D., M.Ch. Chair, Urology		A. Marc Gillinov Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
	Roy Greenberg, M.D. Vascular Surgery		Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D. Section Head, Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation
	Joe Hollyfield, Ph.D. Director, Foundation Fighting Blindness Research Center, Cole Eye Institute		Janet Houghton, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Cancer Biology
	Jennifer Hunt, M.D. Section Head, Surgical Pathology		Vinod Labhasetwar, Ph.D. Staff, Department of BioMedical Engineering
	Roger Macklis, M.D. Radiation Oncology		Marc Penn, M.D., Ph.D. Director, Bakken Heart-Brain Institute
	Derek Raghavan, M.D. Chair, Taussig Cancer Institute		Feza Remzi, M.D., FACS, FASCRS Colorectal Surgery
	Ali Rezai, M. D. Chair, Functional Neurosurgery		Ellen Rome, M.D., MPH. Associate Chief of Staff
	Jonathan Schaffer, M.D. Orthopedics		Roy Silverstein, M.D. Chair, Department of Cell Biology
	William Smith, D. Eng. Biomedical Engineering

Chris Coburn, Executive Director. Mr. Coburn has been Executive Director of Innovations since its establishment in 2000 and is responsible for all activities and outcomes of the department. He is a recognized authority of technology commercialization and has consulted and spoken on the subject throughout North America and in 20 countries. He leads a team of a dozen industry veterans. Mr. Coburn serves on the board of directors of CleveX, Merlot Therapeutics, PeriTec, PrognostiX, and BioEnterprise. He is a trustee of Hathaway Brown School, Northeast Ohio Council of Higher Education, and Town Hall of Cleveland. He is a former director of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation ( NYSE:USU) and author of numerous articles and book chapters on technology commercialization. He was editor and co-author of Partnerships, a key reference book on technology commercialization. His Master’s Degree is from George Washington University.

Nancy Albert, PH.D., Director of Nursing Research and Innovation in the Nursing Institute and Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure at the Cleveland Clinic Dr Albert is also Adjunct Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University, Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland Ohio. Nancy is Immediate Past President of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, she is on the Leadership Team for the Council of Cardiovascular Nurses of the American Heart Association and she is actively involved in many nursing and medical association and corporate steering committees including ‘Get with The Guidelines’ for the American Heart Association, OPTIMIZE-HF for GlaxoSmithKline and IMPROVE-HF for Medtronic, Inc. Dr Albert conducts nursing research, mentors others in initiating nursing research and is an administrator, clinician, educator and consultant in heart failure and nursing research. She has published many articles and book chapters and has presented both nationally and internationally on a variety of cardiac topics, most notably in heart failure. In October 2006 she received the “Partners in Research” award from the Center for Hospice, Palliative Care & End of Life Studies from the University of South Florida and in March 2007, she received the “CNS Researcher of the Year” award from the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists.

Ernest Borden, M.D., Vice-Chair, Taussig Cancer Center. Ernest Borden obtained his medical degree from Duke University and joined Cleveland Clinic in 1998 to direct the Center for Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. In 2005 the 5 laboratories in the Case Western Reserve Cleveland Clinic College of Medicine were integrated to form the Center for Hematology and Oncology Molecular Therapeutics (CHOMT) with Dr. Borden named as Director. He is also a staff member in the Department of Solid Tumor Oncology and a professor in Cancer Biology in the Lerner Research Institute. In the 1980s, he began the first clinical trials of interferon, a natural substance that helps stimulate the body's defense mechanisms to fight cancer. Dr. Borden's major research interests are new cancer therapies including interferons, vaccines, protein molecules, and antibodies. In addition to targeted biological therapies, he has an international reputation for research and treatment of melanomas and sarcomas. Dr. Borden has also been listed in Best Doctors of America for the past 10 years and received the Milstein Award from the International Society of Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR) in 2004. He has held numerous national academic appointments including American Cancer Society Professor of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Borden has also served as consultant to several biotechnology companies, including CIBA.GEIGY (now Novartis AG in Basel, Switzerland), Ares-Serono (Geneva, Switzerland),IDEC Pharmaceuticals (LaJolla, CA), Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Boulder, CG) and Igeneon Inc. (Vienna, Austria). He holds 4 patents.

Peter Cavanagh, Ph.D., D.Sc. (Med.), Chair, Biomedical Engineering. Peter Cavanagh attended Loughborough College and the Royal Free Medical School at the University of London. He is currently the Virginia Kennedy Chairman of Biomedical Engineering, Academic Director of Diabetic Foot Care, and Co-Director of the Center for Space Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology, Biobehavioral Health, Medicine, and Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation at The Pennsylvania State University. He has authored or edited over 400 papers, abstracts, chapters, and books. He served as President of both the American Society of Biomechanics and the International Society of Biomechanics. He also served as Chair of the Council on Foot Care of the American Diabetes Association. He is the recipient of the Muybridge Medal of the International Society of Biomechanics, the Borelli Award from the American Society of Biomechanics, the Dyson Award from The International Society for the Biomechanics of Sport and has presented the Wolff and Dill Lectures for the American College of Sports Medicine and the Roger Pecoraro Lecture to the American Diabetes Association. He chairs the Science Council of the Universities Space Research Association Division of Space Life Sciences. In 2004, he was named Team Leader of the Bone Loss Team of the National Biomedical Space Research Institute.

Guy Chisolm, III, Ph.D., Chair, Conflict of Interest Committee, Lerner Research Institute and a Professor in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. He also holds appointments as Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Case, Professor of Chemistry at Cleveland State University and Professor of Biological Sciences at Kent State University. He received a BS at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), an MS and PhD at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville) and completed his postdoctoral training at the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) and at MIT (Cambridge MA). He has co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and reviews. Dr. Chisolm has lectured at numerous national and international meetings and symposia. He serves as reviewer for more than 20 journals in the biomedical sciences and has served on editorial boards. He has also served on multiple peer review study sections for grant funding by the NIH, AHA and other agencies. Dr. Chisolm served terms on the Cleveland Clinic’s Board of Governors, their Board of Trustees and the Board of Trustees subcommittee on Research and Education. He currently heads the Cleveland Clinic’s Conflict of Interest Committee and is a member of the Steering Committee of a national Working Group on Conflict of Interest. He is active on numerous committees and teaching groups for the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.

Brian Davis , Ph.D., Director, Medical Device Solutions, Biomedical Engineering. Brian holds a bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a MS Degree in Medicine (Biomedical Engineering) from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and a Ph.D. from Penn State University (USA). He has had a staff-level appointment at the Cleveland Clinic since 1992. He also has joint appointments at Case Western Reserve University (in Molecular Medicine and in Biomedical Engineering) and at Cleveland State University in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. He co-directed the doctoral level Applied Biomedical Engineering program at the latter institution from 1998-2007. Dr. Davis was the first Cleveland Clinic investigator to receive a peer-reviewed grant from NASA headquarters on the topic of foot biomechanics in response to impact loading (1996-1998). This project was performed with the aid of a NASA GRC engineer who went on to patent some of the technology developed during the course of this study. Dr. Davis subsequently received funding to develop and test an exercise countermeasure device for astronaut use. Over the past 3 years, Dr. Davis' team at the Cleveland Clinic has continued to collaborate with NASA Glenn Research Center to develop related hardware for long-duration space missions, as well as a state-of-the-art robotic musculoskeletal system.

Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D., Chair, Lerner Research Institute. The Lerner Research Institute is home to over 150 principal investigators and 1000 employees performing biomedical research that ranges from structural biology to biomedical engineering. Over $83 million of NIH grant support was awarded to Lerner scientists in 2005. Dr. DiCorleto received his undergraduate training in chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University. Dr. DiCorleto’s research focuses on the molecular and cellular basis of atherosclerosis. He has been with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for over 20 years, having served previously as Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology, as an Associate Chief of Staff, and as a member of the Clinic’s Board of Governors and Board of Trustees. On a national level, he has chaired multiple NIH and American Heart Association review panels, as well as several national conferences on research into heart and vascular disease. He has published over 100 articles in his field and serves on the editorial board of multiple scientific journals. Dr. DiCorleto has served as President of the North American Vascular Biology Organization, and chair of the Vascular Biology study section of the national American Heart Association, and is a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Advisory Panel on Research. He was elected as fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for 2007.

Inderbir Singh Gill, M.D., M.Ch., Chair, Urology. Dr. Gill completed his medical school, general surgery training, and urology residency in India before moving to the United States in 1989 where he completed a fellowship in renal transplantation and renovascular surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, and another urology residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky. Since 1997, Dr. Gill has been Head, Section of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological Institute. From 2001-2003, Dr Gill was Director, The Minimally Invasive Surgery Center at the Cleveland Clinic. In 2005, Dr. Gill was inducted an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Dr. Gill was the President, 24th World Congress of Endourology and ESWL 2006. He is currently Vice Chairman and Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine. Dr Gill has published over 350 original papers and book chapters, and has been invited as visiting professor to over 200 institutions worldwide. Having amassed the world’s largest urologic experience with over 3000 major laparoscopic and robotic surgery cases in the United States, Dr. Gill’s primary focus is on advancing the frontiers of urologic oncologic laparoscopy and robotic surgery. He performed the world’s first laparoscopic radical cystectomy and orthotopic ileal neobladder for bladder cancer, the entire procedure performed completely intracorporeally. Dr. Gill has been a pioneer in laparoscopic surgery for kidney cancer, and has the largest experience in minimally invasive nephron-sparing surgery for renal cancer, including partial nephrectomy and renal cryoablation, techniques that he has pioneered, and now performed in over 750 patients. Dr. Gill’s team is widely recognized as one of the foremost laparoscopic unit in the field of urology.

A. Marc Gillinov, M.D., Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Dr. Marc Gillinov is an internationally recognized innovator and leader in the surgical management of atrial fibrillation and in the treatment of valvular heart disease, which is frequently associated with atrial fibrillation. As surgical director of the Center for Atrial Fibrillation and a key member of the busiest open heart surgical program in North America, Dr. Gillinov has the world’s largest practice in the surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation. He has worked to develop new surgical options for patients with atrial fibrillation and has been responsible for important innovations, many of which have resulted in commercial products. In the field of atrial fibrillation, he developed the Gillinov Maze Retractor, which is marketed by Atricure, Inc. In addition, working with engineers from Atricure, Inc, he has been instrumental in the development of technology that will enable minimally invasive surgical approaches to atrial fibrillation. Dr. Gillinov has important experience with the development and commercialization of new technologies. Most recently, he co-founded Viacor, Inc., a world leader in the development of percutaneous, minimally invasive approaches to heart valve disease. Viacor has raised more than $10 million in private funding and has 14 full-time employees. The company has an FDA-approved IDE to begin human clinical trials and anticipates completing a Series C round of financing this fall to support continued clinical trials followed by product launch in 2006. A graduate of Yale University, Dr. Gillinov earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Roy Greenberg, M.D., Vascular Surgery. Dr. Greenberg graduated from Cornell University and The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. His internship and residency were both completed at The University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital and his fellowship training consisted of interventional radiology in Malmo Sweden, and vascular surgery at The University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital. Dr. Greenberg’s specialty interests include minimally invasive methods to treat aortic and carotid disease. He runs an active laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering focusing on the development and evaluation of endovascular stentgrafts for the aorta.

Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., Section Head, Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation. He also holds an appointment as Professor of Molecular Medicine within the Department of Medicine in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He serves as principal investigator on multiple NIH grant supported research projects related to his specialty interests, and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts in both basic and clinical research fields. He serves as reviewer for more than 20 scientific and clinical journals. He also serves on several editorial boards. Dr. Hazen has received many honors and awards for his research work and has chaired numerous national and international conferences. He has served as plenary lecturer at national and international meetings and symposia, including multiple workshops held by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes (National Institutes of Health). Dr. Hazen is a member of multiple medical and scientific associations including the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Joe Hollyfield, Ph.D., Director, Foundation Fighting Blindness Research Center, Cole Eye Institute. He is also Professor of Ophthalmology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and is a member of the Graduate School Faculty, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. He was Professor of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy at Ohio State University from 1996-2003. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Hubrecht Laboratory in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Dr. Hollyfield has previously held faculty positions at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. He was Director of the Foundation Fighting Blindness Research Center in The Cullen Eye Institute at Baylor College of Medicine from 1978 until his move to The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1995. Dr. Hollyfield has published over 175 papers in the area of cell and developmental biology. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Experimental Eye Research published by Elsevier Science. He has edited nine books. Dr. Hollyfield has received the Marjorie W. Margolin Prize, the Sam and Bertha Brochstein Award, the Award of Merit in Retina Research, the Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished Scholars' Award, two Senior Scientific Investigator Awards, an award for Outstanding Contributions to Vision Research from the Alcon Research Institute, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas and the Endre A. Balazs Prize from the International Society for Eye Research. Dr. Hollyfield has been active in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, as a Trustee and as President. He is also a past President and former Secretary of the International Society of Eye Research. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of The Foundation Fighting Blindness, Research to Prevent Blindness, The Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation, The South Africa Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation, Knights Templar Eye Foundation, and is Co-Chairman of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Retina International.

Janet Houghton, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Cancer Biology. Dr. Janet Houghton, a leader in the field of cancer research and treatment, is the new Chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at LRI. Dr. Houghton received her Ph.D. from the University of London’s Institute of Cancer Research in Surrey, England. She then spent nearly 30 years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, quickly moving through the ranks of Post-doctoral Fellow, Research Associate, Assistant Member and Associate Member to full Member. She has published more than 129 original articles on human tumor xenograft models, experimental therapeutics, drug resistance, solid tumors, colon carcinoma and rhabdomyosarcoma as specific human diseases, regulation of drug-induced cell death or apoptosis, oncogenes and apoptosis, Fas-induced apoptosis in solid tumors, and signaling and regulation of death receptors. Dr. Houghton is on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Oncology and is Senior Editor for Cancer Research. She also serves on several study sections and review boards. Currently, Dr. Houghton’s research program is focused on understanding the role of death receptors of the TNF receptor superfamily and their signaling pathways in drug-induced apoptosis in solid tumors. The long term goal of her work is to manipulate cell death pathways to selectively destroy cancer cells and thus improve clinical outcomes. It is clear that Dr. Houghton’s passion for science will lead to a great vision for our Department and that her talent for science will help it become reality.

Jennifer Hunt, M.D. Section Head, Surgical Pathology. She is also an Associated Professor of Pathology in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She obtained her medical training at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia and continued there with a residency in anatomic pathology and a fellowship in Molecular Pathology. Dr. Hunt’s research interests are focused on the applications of molecular pathology to solid tumor analysis. She is particularly interested the molecular changes of early tumorigenesis and dysplasias, tumor progression and de-differentiation, and novel molecular applications to tissues to improve diagnostic and prognostic evaluations. Dr. Hunt’s has a clinical expertise in new assay development for clinical use, both in terms of clinical validation and for ongoing laboratory accreditation. She has over 80 peer-reviewed research publications in head and neck and endocrine pathology, is an Associate Editor for a major pathology journal, and has been actively involved in national and international pathology societies.

Vinod Labhasetwar, Ph.D., Staff, Department of BioMedical Engineering. Dr. Labhasetwar received his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Nagpur University in India. He was a staff scientist at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi (1988-90) before coming to the United States as a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Medicine and College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After completing his training in 1993, Dr. Labhasetwar continued at the University of Michigan as a faculty member until 1997. He then joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center as Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In February 2007, Dr. Labhasetwar became a Staff member of the Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, where he leads the Cancer NanoMedicine program, a collaborative effort jointly sponsored by Biomedical Engineering and the Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Center. His research interests are in translational nanomedicine. Dr. Labhasetwar’s laboratory investigates nanosystems for drug/gene delivery in cancer therapy, stroke, cardiovascular conditions, and other age-related disorders. He has developed multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles which he is investigating for imaging and targeted delivery of therapeutics in cancer treatment. He also studies nanoparticle-cell interactions to understand the molecular mechanism of intracellular trafficking of nanoparticles. His research has been funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the American Heart Association. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book-chapters, and holds several U.S. and international patents. He has recently co-edited the book, Biomedical Applications of Nanotechnology, which will be published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., in July 2007. He is the editor-in-chief of Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology.

Roger Macklis, M.D., Radiation Oncology. Dr. Macklis received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. He did his internship at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA and completed his residency at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy at Harvard Medical School. His specialty interests include the use of therapeutic radiation for the management of lymphoma, breast cancer, pediatric solid tumors, research investigations in automation and robotics in oncology, automated quality assurance procedures, and new types of biologically targeted radiotherapy such as radioimmunotherapy. Dr. Macklis is available to see patients at the main campus location in Cleveland.

Marc Penn, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Bakken Heart-Brain Institute. Since 2000, Dr. Marc Penn has been a staff cardiologist with The Cleveland Clinic. He has a special interest in myocardial ischemia, vascular biology, cardiac critical care, and stem cell and gene therapy for the regeneration of myocardial function. Dr. Penn earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), where he holds an academic appointment. He earned his medical degree from CWRU School of Medicine and completed his clinical training at University Hospitals of Cleveland and a fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Penn has developed drug delivery systems for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, including studies to optimize gene and stem cell therapies for the regeneration of myocardial tissue, from which several patents are pending. He is recipient of several awards and research grants, and he has been the principal site investigator in clinical trials for the International Registry of Aortic Dissections. Dr. Penn directs the Cardiovascular Medicine Department’s Experimental Animal Laboratory, which is dedicated to the discovery and implementation of novel drug and gene therapies, as well as devices for the treatment of cardiovascular disease in clinical populations. He also is medical director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Penn is a frequent invited lecturer and author or co-author of numerous published articles, abstracts and book chapters on a wide range of topics, including the effects of lipoprotein oxidation and lipoprotein-induced cell injury in diabetes; mechanism of clot formation in atherosclerotic arteries, optimal management of patients with acute aortic dissection, and cell- and gene-based therapies for acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. He has been a consultant to numerous companies developing novel strategies for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, and is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Frantz Medical Ventures. He also is the president of the Cleveland Metro Division of the American Heart Association.

Derek Raghavan, M.D., Chair, Taussig Cancer Institute. Trained in Medicine and Oncology at the University of Sydney, Australia, Dr. Raghavan obtained a PhD in experimental pathology from the University of London/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, and then completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota. After 10 years in Australia, carrying out clinical and laboratory research in genito-urinary and lung cancers, he was recruited to lead Solid Tumor Oncology and Investigational Therapeutics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY. He subsequently was appointed as Associate Director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine and Chair of Oncology at the USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles. He took up appointment as Chair & Director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center in March 2004, and received the M. Frank & Margaret Domiter Rudy Distinguished Chair in 2006. Dr. Raghavan has held several peer reviewed research grants in Australia and the USA, has produced about 300 scientific papers, and has edited 7 books. His clinical and research interests are focused on genitourinary cancer, cancer in the elderly, anticancer drug discovery and development and comparative human oncology.

Feza Remzi, M.D., Colorectal Surgery. He graduated from Hacettepe University School of Medicine in Ankara, Turkey in 1989 with honors. He trained at the Cleveland Clinic where he was appointed in 1997. He was awarded the Ed & Joey Story endowed chair in colorectal surgery in 2007. He is featured in Cleveland Magazine as one of the best doctors in colorectal surgery for 2008.

His special interests included inflammatory bowel disease, mucosal ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, complex anal and rectal problems, diverticulitis, pelvic pouch procedures for mucosal ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis, intestinal stomas, continent ileostomy (K-pouch), sphincter-saving operations, surgery for carcinoma of the colon and rectum. Dr. Remzi performed the world’s first single-port laparoscopic (SPL) colon resection entirely through a single incision in the navel in 2007.

Ali Rezai, M.D., Chair, Functional Neurosurgery. Dr. Rezai earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Southern California and completed neurosurgical training at New York University. He trained in functional neurosurgery at the University of Toronto and Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He was director of the Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at New York University Medical Center before joining the Cleveland Clinic in January 2000.

Dr. Rezai is board certified with a clinical area of expertise in the neurosurgical management of severe movement disorders, psychiatric conditions, chronic pain, and traumatic brain injury. He has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters, edited books, and presented over 250 national and international lectures. He has also chaired many national and international symposia.

He holds the Jane and Lee Seidman Chair in Functional Neurosurgery, is the recipient of numerous awards and has been named one of the best doctors in America in Castle and Connolly’s guide to America’s Top Doctors since 2001.

Ellen Rome, M.D., MPH, Associate Chief of Staff. Dr. Rome currently serves as Associate Chief of Staff and as Head of the Section of Adolescent Medicine. She is a board certified pediatrician who was also among the first in the United States to be board certified in Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Rome received her undergraduate degree in psychology, magna cum laude, from Yale University in 1984. She received her medical degree and was initiated into Alpha Omega Alpha in 1988 from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, then completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She next completed a three year fellowship in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, during which time she also obtained a masters degree in Public Health at the Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Rome currently serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case. She helped start the first Adolescent Health track at the new school of public health at Case Western Reserve, and coordinates the Adolescent Medicine rotation at the Cleveland Clinic for residents and medical students. She serves as Media Chair and on the Public Affairs Committee for the Academy for Eating Disorders, is on the board of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, and is an examiner for IFEPAG, or the international pediatric and adolescent gynecology society. Dr. Rome’s research interests include eating disorders and obesity, preventive medicine, and reproductive health. She has been an invited speaker locally, nationally, and internationally on various topics in adolescent medicine, while maintaining a commitment to ongoing teaching of house staff and students in the local and surrounding areas. She has written and published on various adolescent medicine topics, including eating disorders and obesity, the female athlete triad, nutrition for the teen athlete, and adolescent sexuality.

Jonathan Schaffer, M.D., M.B.A., Orthopedics. Dr. Schaffer is Technology and Systems Chief in the Adult Reconstruction Section and leads the Advanced Operative Technology Group in the Orthopaedic Clinical Research Center and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Cleveland Clinic. His clinical interests include the treatment of arthritic knees and the application of new technologies in surgical care. Dr. Schaffer is an active member of many professional societies including the American College of Physician Executives, the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Society for Quality and the American Medical Informatics Association. He is an elected fellow of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and was named to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He is also active with public safety forces including his services to his community as an on-call firefighter and police department surgeon. A frequent lecturer at regional, national and international information technology and medical meetings, Schaffer has authored more than 125 articles, book chapters and textbooks. In addition, he has developed a number of multimedia programs and computer software applications on patient outcomes, process engineering and patient education. He and his teams have received several awards for medical Web site development. Dr. Schaffer is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. He completed his internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Affiliated Hospitals in Philadelphia. He completed a fellowship in adult reconstruction at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and a research fellowship at Children's Hospital of Boston and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Schaffer also holds a Master's in Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Prior to his appointment at The Cleveland Clinic, he was Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. At Harvard, Dr. Schaffer was also Associate Director of the Decision Systems Group, a medical informatics laboratory and Chief Executive Officer of Harmonie Group, Inc., a software company spun off from the laboratory with external funding.

Roy Silverstein, M.D., Chair, Department of Cell Biology. He is also Staff in the Department of Hematology at the Taussig Cancer Center, and Professor of Molecular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. The Department of Cell Biology at the LRI is home to 23 principal investigators performing biomedical research on the cellular basis of human diseases, including atherosclerosis (heart attack and stroke), cancer, blindness, anemia, thrombosis (blood clots), and sepsis. The Department is supported by numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association and is heavily involved with teaching and mentoring physician scientists and PhD scientists. Dr. Silverstein received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science from Brown University in Providence and his Medical Degree from Emory University in Atlanta. After completing clinical training in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan he joined the faculty at Cornell Medical School. There he rose through the ranks to eventually become the Mark Pasmantier Professor of Medicine and Chairman of Hematology and Medical Oncology. After spending 11 years in that position and building the Department into a major center for research and patient care he came to Cleveland Clinic in 2004 to assume his current position. In addition to caring for patients with complex bleeding and thrombotic disorders he runs an active research lab focused on understanding the molecular and cellular basis of thrombosis, atherosclerosis, and angiogenesis (blood vessel growth). During his career he has trained many medical and graduate students and research fellows and published well over 100 manuscripts in scientific journals. His laboratory is supported by multiple NIH grants and awards from AHA and the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation. On a national level, he has chaired multiple review panels for NIH, AHA, VA Medical Center, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He serves on the editorial board of multiple prestigious scientific journals and is on the National Executive Committee of the American Society of Hematology, for whom he also chairs their Committee on Government Affairs.

William Smith, D.Eng., P.E., Biomedical Engineering. Before joining the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, he worked as an aerospace engineer at TRW, a machine tool engineer at Warner and Swasey, and as a machinist for several organizations. Dr. Smith has published extensively on blood pump devices and technology, and holds a number of patents for medical devices. His current work involves both blood pumping systems and orthopedic devices. Dr. Smith’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department o f Defense, the Whitaker Foundation and private industry. He has collaborated with many small businesses on a large number of successful SBIR grant applications.