Rachel Scheraga, MD
Associate Staff
Location: Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Research
Biography
Dr. Scheraga is an Associate Staff Physician at the Respiratory Institute and holds a secondary appointment in the Lerner Research Institute Department of Pathobiology, where her research focus is Acute Lung Injury and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). In the laboratory of Dr. Mitchell Olman, Dr. Scheraga has started to investigate the role of a calcium ion channel in macrophage function and activation. Determining the molecular mechanisms of immunologic function will aid in the treatment of multiple diseases. Her current research is focused on targeting unregulated pulmonary inflammation leading to tissue injury and fibrosis. In addition, Dr. Scheraga treats patients in the medical intensive care unit where patients develop progressive lung injury for which there is no current treatment. She also supervises trainees in the intensive care unit and teaches medical students about the immunology of pulmonary infections where she is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
Education & Professional Highlights
Education & Fellowships
Fellowship - National Institute of Health - Cancer Institute
Critical Care Medicine
Bethesda, MD USA
2013
Fellowship - University of Maryland
Pulmonary Diseases
Baltimore, MD USA
2012
Residency - University of Maryland
Internal Medicine
Baltimore, MD USA
2009
Medical Education - Temple University School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA USA
2006
Undergraduate - Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ USA
Professional Highlights
- Since joining the staff of the Cleveland Clinic in 2013, Dr.Scheraga has been invited to present her research findings as a late-breaking abstract at the American Thoracic Society International Conference and American Society of Matrix Biology. She reviews manuscripts for the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and was asked to write an invited Editorial.
Certifications
- Internal Medicine
- Internal Medicine - Pulmonary Disease
- Internal Medicine - Critical Care Medicine
Memberships
- American Thoracic Society, American Society for Matrix Biology
- American College of Chest Physician
- Society of Critical Care Medicine
"CIMER Trained Mentor" indicates the principal investigator has completed mentorship training based on curriculum from the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research, aimed at advancing mentoring relationships and promoting cultural change in research.
Research
Overall areas of interest
- Host defense, infection, macrophage biology, mechanosensation, lung injury, repair and fibrosis
Tools and expertise of the lab
- Bacterial lung infection models (Scheraga et al, JI. 2020)
- Extracellular matrix-macrophage interaction model systems (Scheraga et al, JI. 2016 and 2020)
- Define mechanosensitive host defense cells/molecules
- Human macrophages from infected and lung injury patients (Scheraga et al, JI. 2020)
Examples of collaborators
- Mitchell Olman – Extracellular matrix-cell interactions, TRPV4
- Xiaoxia Li – TLR4/IRAK pathways
- Vidula Vachharajani – sepsis/infectious pathways
- Christine McDonald – NOD2 and pulmonary infection
- William Janssen – lung macrophage subset biology
Lab discoveries
- Identifying the role of TRPV4 in macrophage activation functions (Scheraga et al, JI. 2016 and 2020)
- Discovered the role of TRPV4 in bacterial clearance and cytokine secretion in P. aeruginosa pneumonia associated lung injury (Scheraga et al, JI. 2020)
How could these discoveries help patients?
- New therapies for lung injury
- Better understanding of innate immune cell-extracellular matrix interactions
- New therapies to change macrophage polarization to repair lung injury
Media Links
Local Media
- Cleveland.com: Experts caution against comparing Johnson & Johnson vaccine to others: ‘We have three effective vaccines’
- Cleveland.com: No good reason to say ‘No’ to the coronavirus vaccine: Ted Diadiun
- Fox 8: Cleveland Clinic doctor answers your COVID-19 vaccine questions
- Fox 8: COVID-19 vaccine in Ohio: frequently asked questions
National Media
- Eat This, Not That: Watch Out For This COVID Vaccine Side Effect, Says Dr. Fauci
Additional pick-up: - Parade Magazine: Do You Still Need to Wear a Mask After You've Been Fully Vaccinated? Cleveland Clinic's Top Docs Answer Your Top COVID-19 Questions
Our Team
Selected Publications
View publications for Rachel Scheraga, MD
(Disclaimer: This search is powered by PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed is a third-party website with no affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.)
- Scheraga RG, Southern BD, Grove LM, Olman MA. The Role of TRPV4 in Regulating Innate Immune Cell Function in Lung Inflammation. Front Immunol. 2020 Jun 26. PMID: 32676078
- Scheraga RG*, Abraham S, Grove LM, Southern BD, Crish JF, Perelas A, McDonald C, Asosingh K, Hasday JD, Olman MA*. TRPV4 protects the lung from bacterial pneumonia via MAPK molecular pathway switching. J Immunol. 2020 Jan 22. PMID: 31969384
*co-corresponding authors
- Grove LM, Mohan ML, Abraham S, Scheraga RG, Southern BD, Crish JF, Naga Prasad SV, Olman MA. Biomolecular complex formation and translocation of TRPV4 with PI3Kγ drives myofibroblast transdifferentiation. Science Signaling. 2019 Nov 12. PMID: 31719171.
- Scheraga RG, Southern BD, Grove LM, Olman MA. The role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 in pulmonary inflammatory diseases. Front Immunol. 2017 May 4. PMID: 28523001.
- Scheraga RG, Abraham S, Niese KA, Southern BD, Grove LM, Hite RD, McDonald C, Hamilton TA, Olman MA. TRPV4 mechanosensitive ion channel regulates lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophage phagocytosis. J Immunol. 2016 Jan 1;196(1): 428-36. PMID: 26597012.
- Rahaman OS, Grove LM, Southern BD, Abraham S, Niese K, Scheraga RG, Olman MA. TRPV4 mediates myofibroblast differentiation and pulmonary fibrosis in mice. J Clin Invest. 2014 Dec;124(12):5225-38. PMID: 25365224.
Careers
Research News
Teams of physicians and researchers receive funding to pursue new approaches to solving problems in patient care.
Dr. Grund joins third class of fellows in the Supporting Multidisciplinary Achievement in Respiratory Research Training (SMARRT) program
Dr. Scheraga will use the support to investigate novel signaling mechanisms that control macrophage function and protect the lung during trauma.