About the Alumni Association

About Us

The Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association represents a global constituency of physicians and researchers who are committed to excellence.

Eligibility for membership includes:

Individuals who trained for a minimum of one year at a Cleveland Clinic training facility in any clinical or research Graduate Medical Education (GME) accredited program.
Individuals who trained for a minimum of one year at a Cleveland Clinic research lab during their PhD or postdoctoral training, managed by the Research Education and Training Center (RETC).
Medical students from Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM).
PhD students who completed their degree at Cleveland Clinic through one of our partner universities: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, or Kent State University.
Professional staff who hold these positions, but trained outside Cleveland Clinic, are also eligible for membership if they have served Cleveland Clinic for three years.

Our mission

We connect Cleveland Clinic alumni with each other and with the institution, supporting lifelong learning, professional growth, and the advancement of medicine worldwide.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors serves as the governing authority of the Alumni Association, overseeing its operations and guiding its direction. All actions taken by the Board or its committees are conducted in compliance with the Association’s bylaws.

Your Alumni Directors, representing the area in which you trained, are eager to stay connected with you. Each elected Director meets with the Board of Directors twice a year and can be a valuable resource for alumni.

If you are an alum interested in serving on the Alumni Board, please complete the Alumni Association Board of Directors Application & Nomination Form. For your consideration, descriptions of the Executive Committee roles and Specialty Director positions are available.

Leo J. Pozuelo, MD
President
Training: P’97

Alice Kim, MD, MBA
President-Elect
Training: IM/PD’01, ID’03

Hardeep Phull, MD
Vice President of Communications
Training: CCLCM'11

John George III, MD
Vice President of Membership
Training: AN’09, AN/REG’10

Susan J. Rehm, MD
Retired Staff Director
Training: IM’81, ID’83

Richard S. Lang, MD, MPH
Immediate Past-President
Training: IM'82

Mohammad Abbass, MD, MPH
Colorectal Surgery
Training: S'18, CRS'19, HCCSF'20

Benjamin Abelson, MD
CCLCM Representative
Training: CCLCM'14, U'20

Andreas Alexopoulos, MD, MPH
Neurology
Training: CLNPHY’03

Nuzhat Ashai, MD
Nephrology
Training: H/N'93

L. Tricia Bravo, MD
Infectious Disease
Training: IM’06, ID’08

Karin E. Brown, MD
Urology
Training: S’10, U’15

Cassandra Calabrese, DO
Rheumatologic and Immunologic Disease
Training: IM'14, RH'17, ID'18

Shauna Campbell, DO
Oncology
Training: RO'21

John Costello III, MD
Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Training: CGCS'22, TCS'23

Jason Hsieh, MD
Neurological Surgery
Training: CCLCM ’16, NS ’18

Caitlin Ilkanich, MD
Radiology
Training: DR'23, IMAG/B'24

Aanchal Kapoor, MD, MEd
Pulmonary and Critical Care
Training: CCM’12

Amir Kaviani, MD
Vascular Surgery
Training: VS’06

Elias Khawam, MD
Behavioral Health
Training: H/OPM'00, P'04, CLP'05

Shilpi Khetarpal, MD
Dermatology
Training: D'15

Peter Kreymerman, MD, FACS
Plastic Surgery
Training: S’06, PL/RS’08

Mariel Manlapaz, MD
Anesthesiology
Training: AN’06, CTA’06

Venugopal Menon, MD
Cardiovascular Medicine
Training: Staff'05

Alexandra Mikhael, MD
Endocrinology
Training: IM’18, END’20

Donald A. Moffa, Jr., MD
Emergency Medicine
Training: Staff'97

Jane Nguyen, MD, PhD
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Training: GUPTH'18

Trang Nguyen, MD
General Surgery
Training: S’17

Christine O’Connor, PhD
Research
Training: Staff’10

Leonardo Oliveira, MD
Internal Medicine
Training: IM ’10, PC/SM’11

Amy Park, MD
Obstetrics & Gynecology & Women's Health
Training: UG/PS ’09

Michael Rabovsky, MD
Family Medicine
Training: Staff’00

Gina M. Robinson, MD, FAAP
Pediatrics
Training: PD’98

F. Scott Ross, MD
Cleveland Clinic Florida
Training: IM’13

Joseph Styron, MD, PhD
Orthopaedic Surgery
Training: ORS’16

Katherine Talcott, MD
Ophthalmology
Training: Staff’18

William S. Tierney, MD, MS
Head and Neck
Training: CCLCM’16, OTO’18

John Vargo, MD
Gastroenterology
Training: GE ’09

History

Cleveland Clinic’s founders made clear their desire to keep in touch with their alumni. Reflecting on the institution's first certificate ceremony, held on June 23, 1923, founder George W. Crile, MD, expressed the following sentiment:

“We would like you to know the permanent staff and Board of Directors feel a great interest in your welfare and we shall follow you as far as possible with our interest and hope you will always remember this is an institution that is a home to which you may always return.”

The Alumni Association today carries on that same interest.

Cleveland Clinic's fundamental obligation is to keep alumni connected to the organization and to one another. In addition, the association today:

Assists the medical professional through the promotion of continuing medical education classes, many at an alumni discounted rate.
Highlights alumni medical achievements, innovations and award-winners.
Honors the physician-scientist graduates of Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner College of Medicine.
Develops a philanthropic interest among alumni to meet the health organization’s varied needs, be they buildings, equipment or people.

Beyond reunions

The Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association began much like those of many other medical organizations, existing mostly to host reunions and receptions where its doctors could catch up with one other and speak of their lives inside and outside the medical profession. The occasions were fun, the smiles were many, but the relative importance of these events was often hard to measure.

Over time, the work of a dedicated, curious and engaged alumni staff and alumni base has grown ever more valuable. Communication, education, information have become the benchmarks of a vibrant alumni association in this fast-paced, digital world.

Today’s Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association also:

Acts as a strong ambassador to attract talent to the organization.
Networks with alumni around the globe to both keep lines of communication open and to facilitate the best possible patient treatment.
Funds internal programs of special interest to Cleveland Clinic.
Offers a modern web site, complete with information of use to physicians, such as registration for conferences and linking to Cleveland Clinic’s own prestigious Journal of Medicine.
Brings prominent Cleveland Clinic physicians, and others, before its Board of Directors to hear presentations on current matters of interest, many of which bear directly on physicians’ own patients and practices.
Reports on those presentations – and other news – through its routinely produced newsletter, Alumni Connection.
Holds events across the world to bring alumni in other countries up to date on what’s going on back home.
Sends representatives to important medical conferences, such as one held recently in the Middle East, to learn about new medical techniques and equipment.

Welcome home

It is all about a renewed effort within the Alumni Association to be of greater service to its nearly 30,000 members world-wide and to be of greater relevance to Cleveland Clinic overall.

The association knows it must be attentive and responsive to the needs of its members and continually look for new ways to be of service to them. It is that goal to which it is dedicated. And, just as alumni may receive help, they will go on to offer help to others, including their patients, their peers and their own Cleveland Clinic.

To paraphrase Dr. Crile: We always wish you success, we continue to follow you with interest, and we still hope you consider Cleveland Clinic to be your professional home.