Pictured Left to Right: Elizabeth Ambrose, RN, BSN, CNOR, RNFA; Officer Derrick Dark; Richard S. Lang, MD, MPH; Brian I. Rini, MD; Elias I. Traboulsi, MD; Serpil C. Erzurum, MD
Sponsored by the Miller family, the Maria and Sam Miller Professional Excellence Awards are presented annually to Cleveland Clinic physicians, nurses, scientists and other professional staff who demonstrate exemplary service and dedication to excellence.
Recipients epitomize leadership, talent, innovation, commitment, and outstanding outcomes. They are nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of Cleveland Clinic leaders.
Thanks to the generosity of the Miller family, each recipient is honored at the professional staff awards reception with both a monetary gift and commemorative plaque.
One recipient is named in each of the following six categories:
Master Clinician»
Richard S. Lang, MD, MPH
Richard S. Lang, MD, MPH, serves as Vice Chair of Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute and Chair of the Department (formerly Section) of Preventive Medicine, having served since 1990. Dr. Lang is the editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Clinic Men’s Health Advisor, and he has previously co-edited two editions of the textbook Clinical Preventive Medicine.
Dr. Lang has served as President of the Cleveland Clinic Medical Staff from 2009 to 2010, chaired the Department of General Internal Medicine from 1998 to 2007 and was Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program from 1989 to 1997.
Dr. Lang has been honored with the Arthur S. and Arlene M. Holden Chair of Internal Medicine, the U.S. Public Health Service Primary Care Fellowship in 1997, and the Norma and Alfred Lerner Humanitarian Award, the highest physician honor awarded by Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Lang also has been honored as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) and the American College of Preventive Medicine (FACPM).
Master Educator»
Elias I. Traboulsi, MD
Elias I. Traboulsi, MD, is Head of the Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology and the Director of Cleveland Clinic's Cole Eye Institute Center for Genetic Eye Diseases. He is Professor of Ophthalmology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Director of the Ophthalmology Residency Program at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Traboulsi also serves as Vice-Chairman for Education at the Cole Eye Institute and Chairman of Graduate Medical Education at Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Traboulsi is the Executive Vice-President of the International Society for Genetic Eye Disease and Retinoblastoma and editor-in-chief of Ophthalmic Genetics. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and the MEAJO. He previously served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the British Journal of Ophthalmology, and the Journal of AAPOS. He has authored more than 400 scientific articles and book chapters. His book on Genetic Diseases of the Eye published by Oxford University Press in 1999 is one of the major references on this topic and its second edition is due in October 2011.
Dr. Traboulsi has given 20 named lectures and has visited and taught at numerous academic institutions around the world. His clinical and research interests include the management and genetics of strabismus and congenital cataracts, and the nosology of ophthalmic and general medical genetic disorders and syndromes. He has special interest in ocular developmental biology and ocular malformations, retinal dystrophies, childhood cataracts and connective tissue disorders, especially Marfan syndrome.
Scientific Achievement in Clinical Research»
Brian I. Rini, MD
Brian I. Rini, MD, is Associate Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. A staff member of the Department of Solid Tumor Oncology, Dr. Rini's work focuses on genitourinary malignancies.
Certified in medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Rini is active in numerous professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the Kidney Cancer Association National Medical Advisory Board. He serves on the ASCO Board of Experts and on the External Review Board for the ASCO Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program.
Dr. Rini's primary research has been in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and prostate cancer, with special focus on targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Currently, he is principal investigator (PI) of a CALGB phase III trial of bevacizumab plus interferon versus interferon alone in metastatic RCC and co-investigator of the R01-funded correlate project for this trial. In addition, he is the PI of a National Cancer Institute R21-funded study of the therapeutic modulation of cyclooxygenase-2 in metastatic RCC. Dr. Rini is Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Fellowship Program at Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Rini has authored over 95 peer-reviewed articles and 14 book chapters. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals that include Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Lancet and JAMA. He is the Section Editor for Genitourinary Cancer for the journal, Cancer, and a member of the editorial boards of Clinical Genitourinary Cancer, Kidney Cancer Journal and British Journal of Urology.
Scientific Achievement in Basic Science»
Serpil C. Erzurum, MD
Serpil Erzurum, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Pathobiology in the Lerner Research Institute, Staff Physician in the Respiratory Institute, co-Director of Cleveland Clinic's Asthma Center and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Clinical Research Unit (a component of the Cleveland CTSA). Dr. Erzurum has studied asthma and pulmonary vascular diseases for over 20 years, and during that time developed translational methods for study of human lung diseases, which are now widely used in pulmonary research and applied in clinical medicine. Her scientific contributions have been recognized by award of an NIH MERIT, election to honorary medical societies such as the American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians, and invitational service on federal and international policy, oversight and review boards for pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Nurse of the Year»
Elizabeth Ambrose, RN, BSN, CNOR, RNFA
Elizabeth Ambrose, RN, BSN, CNOR, RNFA, joined Cleveland Clinic in October of 1988 as a Staff Nurse on the General Surgery OR nursing team. In March 1994 she was promoted to the Nurse Manager position for General Surgery, a position she still holds today. At different times during the past 17 years, she has been the Nurse Manager for the ENT, Plastics, GU/GYN, Vascular and Minimally Invasive services in addition to her General Surgery responsibilities. Elizabeth has been honored with two Nursing Excellence Awards-the Emma Barr Clinical Excellence in 1993 and the Linda Solar OR Excellence in 2006. She has gained invaluable knowledge from her patients, nurses and surgeons.
Elizabeth feels that every day she has the opportunity to learn new things and connect with many people. Her career has been rewarding, satisfying, fun and she is grateful to everyone for their support and friendship.
Police Officer of the Year»
Officer Derrick Dark
Police Officer Derrick Dark began his career with the police department in 1985 as a security monitor and three years later was promoted to a security officer. Officer Dark has previously worked on VIP details including United States Presidents, world leaders in government, business, sports, entertainment and high profile patients.
Officer Dark is fully engaged as a police officer and employee of Cleveland Clinic. He is a shift mentor and a member of the department's Police Action Group. He is an outstanding communicator and facilitator of employee concerns and ideas. Officer Dark always communicates a well-thought-out solution for any concern he brings forward.
Officer Dark is involved in many community outreach program activities including police department crime prevention and mentoring programs, high school career days and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). As a member of MADD, he leads many of its community based programs counseling many first time offenders sentenced by the courts. He has attended many training programs in the field of law enforcement. Officer Dark is truly an exemplary officer and an Ambassador for our Police Department. He continually demonstrates extraordinary commitment to service, engagement, excellence – and always – patients first.
