Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute Logo
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute Logo
  • About
  • Science
    • Laboratories
    • Clinical & Translational Research
    • Departments
      Biomedical Engineering Cancer Biology Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences Florida Research & Innovation Center Genomic Medicine Immunotherapy & Precision Immuno-Oncology
      Infection Biology Inflammation & Immunity Neurosciences Ophthalmic Research Quantitative Health Sciences Translational Hematology & Oncology Research
    • Centers & Programs
      Advanced Musculoskeletal Imaging Angiogenesis Center Cardiovascular Diagnostics & Prevention Computational Life Sciences Genitourinary Malignancies Research Microbiome & Human Health
      Musculoskeletal Research Northern Ohio Alcohol Center Pathogen & Human Health Research Populations Health Research Therapeutics Discovery
  • Core Services
    • Ohio
      3D Printing BioRobotics & Mechanical Testing Cell Culture Cleveland Clinic BioRepository Computational Immunology Platform Computing Services Discovery Lab Electron Microscopy Electronics Engineering Flow Cytometry
      Genomic Medicine Institute Biorepository Genomics Glassware Histology Hybridoma Immunohistochemistry Immunomonitoring Lab Instrument Refurbishing & Repair Laboratory Diagnostic Lerner Research Institute BioRepository
      Light MicroscopyMechanical Prototyping Microbial Culturing & Engineering Microbial Sequencing & Analytics Resources Media Preparation Molecular Biotechnology Nitinol Polymer Proteomics & Metabolomics Therapeutics Discovery
    • Florida
      Bioinformatics
      Flow Cytometry
      Imaging
  • Education & Training
    • Graduate Programs Molecular Medicine PhD Program Postdoctoral Program
      Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE) Undergraduate & High School Programs
  • News
  • Careers
    • Faculty Positions Research Associate & Project Staff Postdoctoral Positions
      Technical & Administrative
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • About
  • Science
    • Scientific Programs
    • Laboratories
    • Clinical & Translational Research
    • Departments
      Biomedical Engineering Cancer Biology Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences Florida Research & Innovation Center Genomic Medicine Immunotherapy & Precision Immuno-Oncology
      Infection Biology Inflammation & Immunity Neurosciences Ophthalmic Research Quantitative Health Sciences Translational Hematology & Oncology Research
    • Centers & Programs
      Advanced Musculoskeletal Imaging Angiogenesis Center Cardiovascular Diagnostics & Prevention Computational Life Sciences Genitourinary Malignancies Research Microbiome & Human Health
      Musculoskeletal Research Northern Ohio Alcohol Center Pathogen & Human Health Research Populations Health Research Therapeutics Discovery
  • Core Services
    • All Cores
    • Ohio
      3D Printing BioRobotics & Mechanical Testing Cell Culture Cleveland Clinic BioRepository Computational Immunology Platform Computing Services Discovery Lab Electron Microscopy Electronics Engineering Flow Cytometry
      Genomic Medicine Institute BiorepositoryGenomics Glassware Histology Hybridoma Immunohistochemistry Immunomonitoring Lab Instrument Refurbishing & Repair Laboratory Diagnostic Lerner Research Institute BioRepository
      Light MicroscopyMechanical Prototyping Microbial Culturing & Engineering Microbial Sequencing & Analytics Resources Media Preparation Molecular Biotechnology Nitinol Polymer Proteomics & Metabolomics Therapeutics Discovery
    • Florida
      Bioinformatics
      Flow Cytometry
      Imaging
  • Education & Training
    • Research Education & Training Center
    • Graduate Programs Molecular Medicine PhD Program Postdoctoral Program
      Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE) Undergraduate & High School Programs
  • News
  • Careers
    • Faculty Positions Research Associate & Project Staff Postdoctoral Positions
      Technical & Administrative
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Search

About Us

Lerner Research Institute is home to laboratory-based, translational and clinical research at Cleveland Clinic, a top hospital in the nation. As part of an international hospital system, our scientists have unrivaled access to diverse patient samples, data and opportunities to collaborate with physicians to answer the most pressing clinical questions with research.

Since Cleveland Clinic’s founding in 1921, research, innovation and education have been integral parts of the hospital’s mission. The founders believed it was not only important to treat patients, but also to investigate the causes of disease.

100 years later, Lerner Research Institute is at the forefront of discovery. Matching Cleveland Clinic’s clinical strengths, our scientists investigate novel biological pathways, markers of disease and develop new medical devices, diagnostics and therapies related to cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, brain and eye diseases, diseases of the immune system and emerging pathogens.

As the field of biomedical research has evolved, so has research at Cleveland Clinic.

We are growing with and for the future of medicine, in part by expanding our programs related to data sciences, genomics, population health and precision medicine. With our state-of-the-art resources and facilities—including our new biorepository for patient samples; Center for Therapeutics Discovery, which operates like an in-house pharmaceutical company and is one of the largest drug discovery initiatives in Northeast Ohio; and soon-to-be first private sector, on-premises IBM Quantum computer—we are accelerating understanding of human health and healthcare solutions across the lifespan.

In addition to conducting leading-edge research, Lerner Research Institute is also committed to training the next generation of young scientists, offering joint programs with nearby universities, our own Molecular Medicine PhD program and a robust postdoctoral program.

By conducting leading-edge research, bringing patient-centered solutions to market and educating future researchers and physicians, we are working to improve the lives of patients today and in the future, locally and globally.

Outcomes

Biomedical research is a major driver of innovation, economic development and improved patient care. Metrics like funding, scientific publications and commercialization are meaningful indicators of research impact. Learn more about our research productivity.

Go To Outcomes

By the Numbers

Our discoveries are made possible by the efforts of our exceptional scientists and support teams. As a result, Lerner Research Institute has continued to grow in recent years—from new spaces and equipment, to new and more people, and significantly increased funding.

..

235

Labs
..

1600+

Employees
..

575

Trainees
..

$391M

Research Funding (2022)
Explore all our laboratories

Our Timeline of Breakthroughs

Every disease treatment, biomarker and diagnostic used by a clinician today was first researched and developed by scientists in a laboratory years—sometimes even decades—earlier. With a legacy of innovation, researchers in Cleveland Clinic laboratories have contributed to many such discoveries that have changed modern medicine, including:

1932 Dr. Roy McCullagh posited the existence of inhibins (important proteins related to sex hormones and reproductive health), pioneering the early ideas that led to their isolation decades later.
1948
Dr. Irvine Page, Cleveland Clinic’s inaugural Director of Research, and collaborators Drs. Arda Green (pictured) and Maurice Rapport isolated the hormone serotonin, a discovery that served as the basis of much modern brain chemistry research and treatment.
1950s Dr. Willem Kolff (at left leaning on the patient's bed) perfected his kidney dialysis machine, the first “artificial kidney” ever to be developed. Utilizing his machine, Cleveland Clinic was the first site in the United States to make kidney dialysis available to patients. Also during Dr. Kolff’s tenure, he helped to develop heart-lung machines to maintain cardiac and respiratory functions during cardiac surgery.
1957
Dr. F. Merlin Bumpus synthesized angiotensin-II, a vasoconstrictor that helps to increase blood pressure. Its naturally occurring form was first isolated in the blood by Dr. Irvine Page 12 years earlier. Both leaders in the field of hypertension research, their discoveries laid the foundation for many anti-hypertensive therapies.
1960 Dr. Irvine Page (pictured left), with the help of Drs. Helen Brown (pictured right) and Jerome Green, served as the national leader of the National Heart-Diet Study (funded by the National Institutes of Health), which ran until 1965 and was the country’s first large study to investigate the connection between lipids (dietary fat) and atherosclerosis. The study, whose diet was designed to reduce dietary cholesterol in an effort to curb heart and vascular disease, was revolutionary in bringing modern ideas on a healthy diet to the American public.
1960s
Dr. Harriet Dunstan was among the first to recognize and describe renal arterial hypertension (high blood pressure due to narrowing of the arteries that carry blood to the kidneys). Together with Dr. Eugene Poutasse, the two pioneered renal vascular surgery to combat renal hypertension.
1990
Dr. Subha Sen isolated and purified myotrophin, a protein intimately linked with cardiac hypertrophy and which can cause heart failure.
2000s
Drs. Charis Eng (pictured) and Rosemary Teresi identified a new class of molecules involved in thyroid cancer, a discovery which laid the groundwork for the development of the first molecular test for thyroid cancer in 2008.
2010
Dr. Vincent Tuohy published results of a successful preventive breast cancer vaccine in mice. He is still working today to advance this vaccine for use in patients.
2013
Dr. Edward Plow discovers that foam cells—a hallmark of atherosclerosis—are regulated by the blood protein plasminogen.
2013
Dr. Nima Sharifi discovered a gene variant that renders androgen-deprivation therapy (or medical castration) ineffective for men with prostate cancer and leads to the development of more aggressive, treatment-resistant cancer.
2016
Dr. Stanley Hazen (pictured middle) found in a landmark study that TMAO—a dietary-linked, gut microbe-produced metabolite—alters platelet function and increases risk for heart attack and stroke. In a subsequent study published in 2018, Dr. Hazen designed a potential new class of drugs that may reduce cardiovascular disease risk by blocking this microbial pathway in the gut, the most potent therapy to date that works by “drugging” the microbiome.
2017
Research engineer Karl West (pictured right) developed imaging software using Microsoft HoloLens technology that was used in the world’s first total face transplant, enabling surgeons to visualize in 3-D how to overlay the donor and recipient’s facial anatomy.
2018
Dr. Paul Marasco engineered a new method that utilizes strategic muscle vibration to restore natural movement sensation in patients with prosthetic arms, also providing improved spatial awareness and fine motor control without requiring patients to visually monitor the prosthesis.
2018
Dr. Bruce Trapp (pictured right) discovered a novel subtype of multiple sclerosis, one that uniquely features neuronal loss but no white matter demyelination, which is a hallmark feature of the more traditional form of the disease.

Leadership

Serpil Erzurum, MD

Serpil Erzurum, MD

Chief Research & Academic Officer
Chair, Lerner Research Institute

Lab Profile
Thomas Hamilton, PhD

Thomas Hamilton, PhD

Director,
Strategic Research Growth

Lab Profile
Donna Driscoll, PhD

Donna Driscoll, PhD

Vice Chair,
Lerner Research Institute

Christine Moravec, PhD

Christine Moravec, PhD

Vice Chair, Research Education

Lab Profile
Charlotte Bhasin, MOT, OTR/L

Charlotte Bhasin, MOT, OTR/L

Executive Director,
Chief Research & Academic Office

James D. Ellis, MBA, JD

James D. Ellis, MBA, JD

Managing Director,
Pre-Market Innovations

Heather Huston Barkley, MBA

Heather Huston Barkley, MBA

Executive Director of Development

Gail Lannum, MT

Gail Lannum, MT

Executive Director,
Exploratory Biomedical Sciences

Contact Us

If you have any questions, feedback or concerns, we're here to help. Contact us to learn more.

Contact

About Lerner

About Us Careers Contact Us Donate People Directory

Science

Clinical & Translational Research Core Services Departments, Centers & Programs Laboratories Research News

Education & Training

Graduate Programs Molecular Medicine PhD Program Postdoctoral Program RISE Program Undergraduate & High School Programs

Site Information & Policies

Search Site Site Map Privacy Policy Social Media Policy

9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44195 | © 2023 Lerner Research Institute