Message from Division chief, Dan Simon md

Our clinical activities are based at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and extend to the Harrington-McLaughlin Heart & Vascular Institute programs at 16 sites throughout Northeast Ohio. Our faculty is nationally and internationally recognized authorities in cardiovascular conditions including atrial fibrillation, interventional cardiology, and heart failure. University Hospitals has a unique reputation for personalized yet sophisticated cardiovascular care. All patients are offered the latest in device, ablative and surgical therapies. This year we performed the first clinically approved OCT procedure in the U.S. Our clinical programs are closely aligned with the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veteran Affairs Medical Center.

All faculty and fellows are engaged in research. The Cardiovascular Research Institute at Case Western Reserve University occupies over 13,000 square feet of laboratory space and is home to over 70 faculty and post-doctoral fellows.  It was selected as clinical trial site for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation. Within the center for Research & Innovation, we have cutting-edge translational and clinical research activities with particular strengths in stem cell and regenerative medicine, cardiovascular imaging, and electrophysiology and interventional cardiology drug and device trials.  Our faculty was awarded the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency award for the development of drugs to promote performance of fighting soldiers at altitude. We have garnered over 15 R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health and 11 career development awards. Our total committed grant support from the NIH now exceeds $16 million. We are particularly proud of our junior faculty clinician-scientists and scientists.

Our strong education programs are highly sought after with many having gone onto successful academic and clinical practice careers.

Welcome Message from division chief, baha arafah, MD

The Division at University Hospitals Case Medical Center has been nationally and internationally recognized for its clinical contributions to the field of endocrinology. We are ranked again on the US World and News Report list of “Best Hospitals” as we have for several consecutive years. The Division has made important contributions to patient care specifically in the areas of diabetes mellitus, pituitary diseases, adrenal disorders and thyroid cancer.

At Case Western Reserve University the Division has exceled in academic investigation of pituitary-adrenal, thyroid cancer and diabetes research. Of particular importance  is the ACCORD study which is a clinical trial examining the effects of treatment on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes mellitus. Several landmark papers detailing the results of the ACCORD study have been published in prestigious Journals including the Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine and The Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Division offers two tracks of fellowship training. The first is a two-year clinical and the second is a three-year research track. We instill a desire for academic medicine in our trainees with multidisciplinary translational collaborations from bench to bedside with the departments of biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, biophysics and physiology.

Welcome Message from divison chief, fabio cominelli, MD Phd

The University Hospitals Digestive Health Institute is a national leader in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of digestive and liver diseases. U.S. News & World Report consistently rank our program as one of the best in the country. Our endoscopy suite is the first hospital unit in Ohio to be recognized by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. We utilize an integrated model of health care in which our patients are seen by a multidisciplinary team of specialists including gastroenterologists, hepatologists, surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, oncologists, nurse practitioners and nutritionists from UH Case Medical Center, UH Seidman Cancer Center and UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. We have six Centers of Excellence in Gastrointestinal cancer, Inflammatory bowel disease, Liver disease, Bariatric surgery and nutrition, Advanced technology and innovation and Community gastroenterology and quality. These centers provide our patients with access to the most comprehensive diagnostic techniques and innovative clinical treatment options available.

The Division is recognized nationally and internationally for its contributions to diagnostic/therapeutic endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease and GI outcomes research. Investigators form an integrated team to explore multiple aspects of intestinal inflammation utilizing clinical resources as well as animal models of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Some topics under investigation include intestinal cytokine regulation, immune-nonimmune cell interactions, extracellular matrix biology, tolerance to indigenous intestinal flora and state-of-the-art gene expression profiling by DNA microaray technology.

We provide clinical and research education in an integrated program at UH Case Medical Center and the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Welcome Message from division chief, rajesh chandra, MD

The core mission of the Division is to provide superior quality patient care, maintain high standards of education and pursue health services and clinical research. We are home to a diverse group of physicians whose professional interests span across multiple areas including health services and outcomes research, hospital medicine, acute care of the elderly, primary care, chronic disease management, preventive medicine, palliative care, patient safety and quality improvement, health care disparities and medical education.

As Generalists we are the “big picture” people who have a specialized skill set to coordinate care and formulate a comprehensive treatment plan with the goal of restoration of health and wellness both in the hospital and the ambulatory setting. The section at University Hospitals Case Medical Center is primarily a clinical and educational enterprise focused on the delivery of high quality inpatient and outpatient medical care. The Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center is home to a core group of talented clinician researchers, primary care providers and inpatient clinicians who have been innovative teachers and role models for medical students and residents

This year the division initiated the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and established a new “Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education”.. In the 2010-2011 US News and World report the Center for Geriatric Medicine was ranked 23^rd in the nation.

Welcome Message from division chief, Neal Meropol, MD

Welcome to the Division of Hematology and Oncology. With more than 50 members, our Division is among the largest within the Department of Medicine, and has a scope of activities that span our research, patient care and educational missions.

The Division has expertise and interest in benign hematologic conditions, including coagulation disorders and hemoglobinopathies, as well as hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. Our faculty includes physician-scientists, Ph.D.’s conducting laboratory research, clinical researchers, and clinical faculty focused on patient care and teaching. In addition to training of medical students, basic science graduate students, post-docs, and medical residents, we have an ACGME-accredited Hematology and Oncology Fellowship program. We provide care at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center main campus, the Louis Stokes Veterans Administration Medical Center, and through a regional network of community practices, all of whom participate in clinical trials research.

The Division of Hematology and Oncology is closely aligned with the Seidman Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, a principal member of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, and our faculty play key roles in cancer center research and clinical activities.

The overall goal of our Division is to advance the field through clinical and basic research, while providing innovative cutting-edge clinical care, and training the next generation of leaders in hematology and oncology.

Welcome Message from division chief, Robert Salata, Md

The Division has robust clinical programs focused in the inpatient and ambulatory settings. Outpatient activities encompass HIV/AIDS, general infectious diseases, transplant-associated infections, chronic hepatitis B and C and travel medicine. We have performed at the 99th percentile in terms of wRVUs and patient satisfaction is high.

The major strengths of the division include basic, translational and clinical research in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, infections in the elderly, bio-defense and emerging infections.  We will begin a Phase 1 study on an experimental anti-tuberculosis drug – representing the first new class of anti-TB drugs in the past 60 years. This is the first trial under a 7-year, $16.8 million contract awarded from the NIH to Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University. There is also significant research in the Division related to HIV/AIDS and co-infections, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis and AIDS-associated malignancies. The Joint Clinical Research Centre in Kampala, Uganda  is #1 site for enrollment for HIV clinical research protocols through AIDS Clinical Trials Group.  The University just funded the Infectious Diseases Alliance to work on infectious diseases in the underserved in local communities surrounding the Institution.

The Division has an outstanding fellowship and education program. A combined Infectious Diseases–Geriatrics Fellowship Training Program was begun in June 2011. Our faculty continue to receive outstanding evaluations from residents, fellows and medical students in terms of their teaching and clinical activities and several were chosen as Best Infectious Diseases Doctors for 2011.

Welcome Message from division cheif, Don Hricik, MD

The Division has once again been recognized for its outstanding clinical care by US News & World Report for “Best Hospitals”. Our group of experienced clinicians excels in renal replacement therapy. Home hemodialysis is a unique program empowering patients to conduct daily home based treatments. We operate an interdisciplinary clinical collaboration between University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Medical Center.

The Division has provided major leadership for key NIH-sponsored multicenter research trials including the Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial, the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension, the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort and the NIH-sponsored SPRINT Trial. The Division is also participating in an NIH-sponsored Transplant Navigator Trial. Case Western Reserve University is a leading participant in a multicenter consortium enrolling patients into the NIH’s Clinical Trial in Organ Transplant initiative.

The pride of our division is the outstanding physician scientists we train through our fellowship education. Our trainees benefit from both bench and translational opportunities in multidisciplinary environment including the departments of Medicine, Pathology, Physiology and Biophysics. The ultimate goal is to prepare tomorrow’s academic physician, scientists and educators to continue our legacy.

Welcome Message from division chief, kingman strohl, Md

The division has a long history of clinical excellence. We are dedicated to providing best in class patient care, being thought leaders and developing the next generation of leader’s through our educational programs.  We pride ourselves on our centers of clinical expertise in lung cancer, interstitial fibrosis, lung transplantation, pulmonary vascular disease, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, interventional bronchoscopy, sleep, emphysema, pulmonary rehabilitation and critical care. The MICU University Hospitals Case Medical Center received the Beacon Award five years in a row and is the only ICU in the nation to achieve such recognition.  Our cystic fibrosis center has one of the largest in the country.  Our lung cancer program is a leader in diagnostics and therapeutics through its multi-disciplinary program in the UH Seidman Cancer Center that brings together pulmonologists, medical oncologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists, chest radiologists, nuclear radiologists, and pathologists.

The control of breathing research group at Case Western Reserve University has been a major focus over 20 years.  Research includes sleep disordered breathing, pulmonary epithelial cell biology and lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS] and mechanical ventilation. We are studying the human immunity to M. tuberculosis and also inflammation in CF. In sleep medicine and clinical epidemiology we study oxidative stress as mediators linking sleep disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease. We also study obstructive sleep apnea and obesity.

The philosophy of the fellowship education program is to produce excellent clinicians with a research focus to succeed as leaders in academic medicine.

Welcome Message from division chief, ali askari, MD

Our areas of clinical expertise include the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory muscle diseases and common arthritic problems, such as osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia and osteoporosis. At University Hospitals Case Medical Center we deliver personalized care to each of our patients who benefit from the most recent diagnostic and therapeutic care of rheumatic diseases.

Our research arm at Case Western Reserve University is devoted to the future care of patients with osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Our faculty has published several landmark publications on the investigations of cartilage and chondrocytes biology, muscle diseases, autoimmunity and T cell biology.

We successfully matched outstanding graduates for our fellowship education program who are trained as investigative diagnosticians, cutting-edge researchers and compassionate clinicians. Each clinician educator supersedes national benchmarks in healthcare delivery. Our fellowship graduates are highly sought after and they continuously maintain successful careers in research, patient care, industry and clinical practice settings.