Catalyst Grant Recipients

January 2025 Grant Recipients

We are excited to announce the 11th round of Catalyst Grants recipients, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 34 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $2M from thousands of generous donors.

Andrew Abboud, MD – Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, Cardiovascular Medicine (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop a new transcatheter leadless pacing system to overcome the issue of electrical damage to the heart after a TAVR procedure. The pacing system would include a leadless pacemaker implanted in the left ventricle that is directly connected to a pacing apparatus around the TAVR valve.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Hany Aly, MD, MSHS – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop a device and software that will automatically adjust oxygen supply to maintain stable oxygen saturation in ICU patients with breathing difficulties. In addition to being a more accurate and reliable method, the device will significantly decrease alarm fatigue for bedside nurses. 

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Stephanie Ash, MSW, JD – Endocrinology (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Support the Thr1ve Diabetes Program, a wraparound pilot program for 36 young adults (ages 18-30) with type 1 diabetes that addresses their medical, psychosocial and financial concerns. The Thr1ve Diabetes program will include support groups, access to safety nets for insulin, fresh produce, transportation, opportunities for diabetes-related education and collaboration with Licensed Social Workers to help address non-medical Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) for long-term stability.

Marylise Boutros, MD – Digestive Disease Institute (Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital)

Idea: Establish the first-of-its-kind LARS Care Center in North America to provide targeted and comprehensive care to rectal cancer survivors. Our center will address gaps in current care, enhance overall patient quality of life, diminish caregiver burden and change the paradigm of how rectal cancer survivorship is treated at across Cleveland Clinic and elevate the standard of care for rectal cancer management worldwide.

JoAnne Carlo – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Implement role play, distraction, sensory and calming resources for the over 2000 (and growing) pediatric/developmentally challenged population seen each year in the sleep lab. These resources will provide a reduction in anxieties and promote coping skills, leading to increased patient/family satisfaction. It will also improve study quality for the diagnostician, boost the confidence of the technical staff and increase the number of studies completed.

Weiqiang Chen, PhD – Lerner Research Institute, Infection Biology (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop a bone-specific therapy for osteoporosis by delivering NS3p-BMP2 mRNA directly to osteoblasts using bone-targeting recombinant AAV9 vectors and CH6 aptamer-loaded lipid nanoparticles. This targeted approach seeks to enhance bone regeneration and fracture healing while minimizing systemic side effects.

Mitali Das, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Investigate functional and mechanistic mechanisms of Filamin C-driven inherited cardiomyopathy. This will lead to the testing of alternative drugs for personalized treatments of patients.

Abigail Demianczyk, PhD – Children's Behavioral Health & Cardiology (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Enhance neurodevelopmental care for infants undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease by providing essential resources and staff training in developmental care practices. By increasing the availability of supportive equipment and improving staff competencies, we seek to mitigate cognitive and motor delays in this vulnerable population.

Omolola Fakunle, MD – Orthopaedic Surgery (Cleveland Clinic Administrative Campus) 

Idea: Improve surgical accuracy and reduce operative time in spinal deformity surgeries by developing a tool that streamlines spinal rod manipulation, bending and cutting. 

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient 

Kimberlee Fong, DO –Palliative Medicine (Ohio East Regional Hospitals) 

Idea: Empower Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and their families to actively participate in determining their medical pathways by developing an educational toolkit utilizing gamification techniques such as choose your own adventure.

Linda Gardner, DNP, MEd, BA, RN, CNOR – Nursing (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop and implement an innovative nursing pipeline program for middle and high school students. Our goal is to conduct educational boot camps that provide informative and immersive learning experiences designed to introduce the nursing profession. 

Oluwatosin Goje, MD – Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop and pilot a culturally tailored, family-centered nutrition education program for Black and Hispanic postpartum patients diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes during pregnancy. This intervention will combine hands-on cooking classes and nutrition education, health (blood glucose and blood pressure) monitoring, and food supplementation to address social drivers of health that contribute to the racial disparities in hypertension and diabetes risk.

Chiara Graver, MA – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children's Center for Autism)

Idea: Support families with young autistic children by providing training, resources, and community activities that enhance their child’s current services. By equipping parents with practical skills and fostering connections, we aim to alleviate stress and isolation, ultimately improving the well-being of both parents and their children.

Julie Honaker, PhD – Integrated Surgical Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Investigate accuracy of vestibular function outcomes across two objective eye movement tracking systems. Accurate vestibular testing is crucial for diagnosing and treating problems related to balance and orientation.

Sayuri Inoue, MD, MPH, MPP – Endocrinology (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop and implement a medical nutrition therapy (MNT) program within a group visit setting for patients with obesity who lack access to MNT. This new program will be developed within the existing shared medical appointment (SMA) program at the Endocrinology Department (EMI).

Hyun Jung Kim, PhD– Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop a Multiplex Organ Chip Platform (EXORM) for advancing translational precision medicine. 

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient 

Jeongwu Lee, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Develop a novel, non-invasive biomarker assay to predict therapeutic responses for GBM patients. 

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient 

Feng Lin, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Based on an already identified nanobody, we will develop a novel PET-imaging agent for rapid, non-invasive cancer diagnosis. 

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient 

Victoria McMurrain, MSN, RN – Emergency Medicine (Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital)

Idea: Compare the effectiveness of the CIWA and mMINDS assessment tools in evaluating alcohol withdrawal symptoms in non-verbal, intubated, or unresponsive ICU patients. By identifying the most accurate assessment method, the project seeks to improve patient outcomes, reduce complications, and enhance care quality in critical care settings.

Jose Navia, PhD –Emergency Medicine (Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital)

Idea: Develop a Transcatheter Magnetic Cinching Device and Flow Sensor to treat dilated cardiomyopathy by inducing progressive reverse remodeling of the left ventricle. 

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient 

Biance Nixon, PharmD – Pharmacy Department (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)

Idea: Assess the effects of tobacco cessation through pharmacist led class. Along with assessing the effectiveness of the class, we hope to improve the health of our community by helping patients quit tobacco.

Anny Reyes, PhD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Identify the key social determinants of health (SDOH) that influence epilepsy surgery and outcomes in order to develop and pilot-test an intervention to enhance patient understanding of how SDOH influence epilepsy care and treatments.

Beth Rollins, MEd – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)

Idea: Support childhood development by teaching families how to play effectively through a parent-child class that includes a toy kit and a detailed booklet on developmental benefits and play ideas. Developed in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic suppliers, the booklet will be distributed across pediatric departments as a lasting resource for families.

Noah Schwartz, MD – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center)

Idea: Incorporate video otoscopes (a medical device used in ear exams) into pediatric resident continuity clinics to improve education and diagnostic skillsets.

Sarah Stanton, MA – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)

Idea: Investigate the success of objective feedback given in a caregiver education program on the development of foundational language skills for babies and young children.

Tyler Stimpert, BSBA, MPH – Cancer Institute (Remote/Community-Based)

Idea: Expand the annual LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness Day at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland by increasing accessibility, offering additional screenings, and enhancing event logistics, marketing, and recruitment to reach a broader and more diverse population, particularly focusing on uninsured and underinsured LGBTQ+ individuals.

Wai Hong Wilson Tang, MD – Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, Cardiovascular Medicine (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Use a non-invasive imaging technique called optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) to study microvasculature in the eyes of heart failure patients. By analyzing changes in these vessels especially before and after treatment, researchers hope to gain insights into how to best optimize microvascular dysfunction in heart failure.

Roopa Thakur, MD – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Provide blood lead level testing to uninsured patients as a part of the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition Child Care Pilot Program. Additional funding will allow us to test all children who attend this pilot program’s participating childcare centers for free by covering the cost of testing and diagnostics.

Derrick Thompson, MSN – Nursing (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Leverage ambient listening technologies to decrease documentation burden and transcription errors, while increasing caregiver efficiency.

Randall Turner, MBA – Community Health (Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital)

Idea: Establish a community resource space dedicated to offering programs and resources. This initiative aims to address and alleviate the social determinants of health affecting our patients and community members.

Aaron Uher, BS – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)

Idea: Develop an area for fitness to increase physical fitness, as well as overall well-being. This project would also promote and enhance life-long leisure and social skills.

Pratyusha Rama Kavya Vipparthi, PhD– Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Improve preventive care for BRCA2 mutation carrier women at high-risk for breast cancer by identifying mechanisms that lead to their DNA damage.

Robert Winkelman, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Acquire a commercial 3D printer to produce low-cost spine and cranial surgical simulators for Cleveland Clinic neurosurgical trainees to enhance mastery of critical surgical skills and improve the safety and quality of surgical care rendered by neurosurgery residents

Keren Zhou, MD – Endocrinology (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)

Idea: Assess how adhering to a gluten free diet can improve the debilitating symptoms of Hashimoto's hypothyroidism.

July 2024 Grant Recipients

We are excited to announce the tenth round of Catalyst Grants recipients, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 33 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic’s locations. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $2M from thousands of generous donors.

William Albabish, PhD, MSc – Education Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Utilize virtual reality to introduce the world's first digital library of cadaver dissections, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

Shahnawaz Amdani, MD – Children's and Pediatric Institute (Cleveland Clinic Euclid Hospital)
Idea: Develop an implantable device to better monitor heart failure in children.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Liron Bar-El, MD – Ob/Gyn and Women’s Health Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Improve patient outcomes, reduce complications and address caregiver concerns about the current strategy for specimen bagging during laparoscopic procedures by developing an innovative bagging device.

*Hickey Innovation Impact Award and Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Kathryn Bash, MSN, MHS – Pulmonary & Critical Care (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Based on patient demographics and morbidity, test the efficacy of a movement and ambulation program measuring the incidence, severity and duration of post-discharge sequelae, including ICU-acquired delirium.

Valeria Bruno, DPT – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital)
Idea: Develop a Lymphedema and Wound Care center to help patients with lymphedema regain the confidence they need to live a healthier and more sustainable quality of life.

Scott Cameron, MD, PhD – Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Test and gather data on a groundbreaking drug that can target and stop aneurysms from growing to submit for an NIH (National Institutes of Health) and American Heart Association external grant.

Beatriz Coutinho de Oliveira, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Improve outcomes from CAR-T cell therapy in B-cell cancers.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Mohamed Dwidar, PhD, MSc – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Use engineered, cancer-specific bacteria as a tool to deliver therapeutic immunomodulatory agents exclusively in the cancer site, allowing the immune system to better attack and eradicate the tumors while sparing other organs from the side effects of these agents.

Hallie Fetterman, PhD – Pediatric Behavioral Health (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Provide Saturday Treatment Program services, a weekly behavioral intervention for 40-90 children diagnosed with ADHD, ASD and related behavioral, emotional and learning challenges.

Kristel Geyer, PharmD, BCOP, BCPS – Pharmacy Department (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Conduct a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who are not linked to care by utilizing a referral service to Cleveland Clinic Specialty Pharmacy (CCSP) and triage to appropriate specialist care.

Teagan Hayes, DO – Primary Care (Cleveland Clinic Madison Medical Office Building)
Idea: Create a virtual Hub on site at the Medical Office Building for our patients who cannot travel to Main Campus or other locations for their specialty care.

Stephen Jones, MD, PhD – Imaging Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study quantitative brain connectivity measures to predict which patients with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder will respond to ketamine and demonstrate which brain networks are critical to ketamine response.

Paul Kambies RN, BSN – Innovations (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create an external catheter for both males and females to empower patients with a solution that is discrete, comfortable and confidential, allowing for urination without leaking and more mobility in bed.

Melissa Kasik, RN – Children's Hospital and Pediatric Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a video to provide preparatory information to help increase nursing efficiency during pre-op, decrease anxiety of patients and family members and provide realistic expectations of the procedural process.

Sobia Khan, MD, EdD – Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health Institute, Center of Specialized Women's Health(Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Investigate whether a Functional Medicine program designed specifically for women going through menopause facilitates the transition and improves physical, mental and emotional wellness, and addresses chronic disease prevention, improved quality of life, lowered health care costs and avoiding medications.

Claire Konys, PA – Digestive Disease Institute (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Develop educational information specific to patients with traumatic injuries to help patients and their loved ones better understand the care process and continuing recovery, be actively engaged with the caregiving team and foster communication with the Trauma Team.

Brianna P. Matthew, BS – Education Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Provide Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine students the opportunity to hone their knowledge of nutrition and gain experience crafting tailored dietary regimens for hypertensive patients and educate hypertensive patients about making informed dietary choices.

Jaroslaw Maciejewski, MD, PhD – Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Administrative Campus)
Idea: Conduct robotic in vitro tests directly on tumor cells to help select drugs which are effective for treatment of cancer/leukemia in a specific patient.

Jean Parrish, BS, MS – Operations (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Provide clothing and essential care items for patients being discharged without them.

Silvia Elena Perez Protto, MD, MS, MBA, FCCM – Quality & Patient Safety Institute, Patient Experience, Clinical Transformation (Cleveland Clinic Euclid and Lutheran hospitals)
Idea: Assess the impact of standardizing Advance Care Planning to justify its expansion, assessing quality of life at the end of life, hospice referrals, concordance between preferred and actual place of death, and cost of care at end of life for high-risk patients at Euclid and Lutheran hospitals.

Anthony Polakowski, BS, MEng – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a catheter to remove air trapped in the heart after surgery.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Ofer Reizes, BA, PhD – Lerner Research Institute and Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop novel treatments for ovarian cancer.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Julie Rennison, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Perform three different experiments in direct response to feedback from an R01 grant application to study mitochondrial structure in atrial fibrillation (AF) to prevent progression of AF.

Jonathan Sears, MD – Cole Eye Institute and Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop strategies to help prevent blindness in oxygen-deprived premature infants.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Tilak Shah, MD, MHS – Digestive Disease Institute (Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital)
Idea: Identify the high reliability process most likely to optimize patient safety during sedated procedures like endoscopy.

Stacy Sweeny, RN – Emergency Medicine (Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital)
Idea: Create a pediatric inclusion area at Cleveland Clinic Martin Tradition ED to provide the best care for pediatric patients and help alleviate stress for families.

Neha Vyas, MD – Primary Care (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Develop a team-based intervention to care for patients with prediabetes by implementing a 16-week pilot program to help them understand this disease and to make positive health changes.

Carol Whitmore, MSN – Birthing Services (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Decrease postpartum readmissions for high blood pressure and help decrease maternal mortality by providing education and blood pressure cuffs to at-risk patients.

Sundrea Wilcox, MA – Community Health Equity (Cleveland Clinic Euclid Hospital)
Idea: Establish a Community Resource Center for families to serve as a vital link between primary healthcare services and essential socioeconomic resources and expand our current partnership with the Greater Cleveland Foodbank to combat food insecurity and health disparities.

Aleta Wissner, RN, BSN – Nursing (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Build on the existing Fairview Cares Closet by building out the space and securing additional donations to provide clothing and hygiene items to patients in need.

Caitlin Wolf, MS – Nursing (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create intentional space for children with complex chronic illness (e.g., cancer, heart disease, congenital conditions) and their families to be celebrated and honored throughout their treatment journey – from diagnosis to end of treatment or end of life.

Nina Zobenica Moore, MD, MSE – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Determine the mechanical properties of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM) vessels, including the feeding arteries, nidal vessels and draining veins, in comparison to our existing normal vessel data sets. Use the data to determine the genetic mutations associated with differing appearance of the AVM radiographically and mechanically to refine our computational AVM model to simulate patient specific anatomy for rupture risk prediction.

January 2024 Grant Recipients

We are excited to announce the ninth round of Catalyst Grants recipients, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 35 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $2M from thousands of generous donors.

Caregiver Catalyst Grants Recipients

Mariam AlHilli, MD – Ob/Gyn and Women’s Health (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Improve post-surgical and cancer-related outcomes for geriatric patients with ovarian or pancreatic cancer through a physical therapy and nutrition prehabilitation program.

April Andler, BSN – Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital)
Idea: Encourage patients to actively participate in their care by providing essential monitoring tools to effectively manage heart failure at home.

Francois Bethoux, MD – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Establish a community-based exercise and wellness program designed for individuals with disability due to stroke or MS, targeting patients in underserved communities.

Tricia Lulette Bravo, MD – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital)
Idea: Empower patients with the necessary knowledge and skills to confidently administer inhaled antibiotics at home.

Robyn Busch, PhD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Improve access to cognitive screening for Spanish-speaking Cleveland Clinic patients by translating the Brief Assessment of Cognitive Health (BACH) test, which discriminates between patients with and without cognitive impairment with 80% accuracy.

John Carl, MD – Children's Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Utilize Tyto, a new FDA-approved, HIPAA-compliant home device that enables parents to digitally record and upload pulse oximetry or pulmonary function tests to improve clinician decision-making during telehealth visits and increase frequency and quality of pediatric asthma care.

Michael Dakkak, DO, MBA – Orthopaedic & Rheumatologic (Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston Hospital)
Idea: Increase the safety of our surgical patients by decreasing prescribing rates of controlled substances and decreasing overall use and exposure to narcotics by using alternate methods to adequately treat pain and maintain functional outcomes.

Sarmishtha De, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Test METTL16 effects on chemoresistance in triple-negative breast cancer.

Sarah Deininger, M.Ed., LPCC – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Develop mobile sensory carts that promote a patient-centered, trauma-informed approach for child and adolescent psychiatry inpatients to address stress and agitation, and increase their relaxation and cooperativeness.

Hallie Fetterman, PhD, BCBA-D – Children's Institute (Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Provide Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) parent training services to treat disruptive behavior and provide better quality of life for families of children with high support needs.

Michaela Gack, PhD – Florida Research and Innovation Center (Cleveland Clinic Florida)
Idea: Develop broad-spectrum drugs to treat existing and emerging viruses.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Bradley Gill, MD, MS – Glickman Urology & Kidney Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a device to treat urinary leakage without damaging urethral tissue.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Anas Hadeh, MD, FCCP – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston Hospital)
Idea: Establish the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM)/Bronchiectasis Clinic in South Florida to offer leading-edge treatments, facilitate research and deliver comprehensive care by uniting experts from various medical fields.

Masahiro Hitomi, MD, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Establish a novel therapeutic sensitivity analysis using patient-derived cancer cells, which would help treatment selection for sarcoma patients.

Adam Keating, MD – Children's Institute (Cleveland Clinic Wooster Family Health Center)
Idea: Utilize a novel in-office lead screening collection method using filter paper to improve the process for lead screening in children and infants.

Vinod Labhasetwar, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop nanoparticle-delivered treatments for stroke and other clotting diseases.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Feng Lin, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a new, non-invasive diagnostic for auto-immune diseases caused by defective T-Cells.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Susan Linder, DPT PhD – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create the Cleveland Clinic Rehab Café – a satellite research lab kiosk staffed by patients who have completed traditional rehab, supervised by neurorehabilitation therapists to measure changes in balance, mobility, upper limb function, cognition, and quality of life versus traditional physical therapy and occupational therapy.

Melissa Lopez, DPT – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital)
Idea: Install nine Guldmann Ceiling lifts in patient rooms to reduce caregiver injury and increase patient care by providing greater mobility solutions.

Gabriel Mandel, MD – Children's Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study states of resistance to chemotherapy in osteosarcoma cell lines by treating the cells with front-line chemotherapy until resistance develops and test for biological markers that may correlate with sensitivity and resistance.

Lori Matich, MSN, RN – Nursing (Children Clinic Tradition Hospital)
Idea: Develop carts filled with a variety of sensory tools including fidgets, weighted items, and other resources for pediatric and adult patients who have autism or other neurodiversities and provide education to caregivers about working with patients with autism and related developmental disorders.

Sarah McGee, Genetic Counselor – Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create an educational video about the importance and impact of genetic testing for patients newly diagnosed with certain types of cancer where timely genetic testing is vital.

Imad Najm, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Implement a HoloLens training program specifically designed for the needs of the Epilepsy Center to provide an immersive and interactive training experience for caregivers.

Lindsay Ondrey, MS, PA – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: To reduce pain and anxiety in the immediate post-operative inpatient setting after spinal surgery, use daily sessions of virtual reality followed by a 5–10-minute guided meditation/relaxation segment.

Vinnet Punia, MD, MS – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create novel and seminal knowledge about aging's effect on hippocampal brain rhythms and their correlation with memory decline by leveraging intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) monitoring of epilepsy patients undergoing pre-surgical evaluation and recording electrical rhythms in the brain.

Jun Qin, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel approach to treat triple-negative breast cancer.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Andrea Schlegel, MD, MBA, FEBS – Digestive Disease & Surgery (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Assess the role of mitochondrial biomarkers in predicting organ function and recipient outcomes after transplantation.

Nabin Shrestha, MD, MPH – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study the reliability of self-administered audiograms using a smartphone application to detect hearing loss.

David Snipelisky, MD – Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston Hospital)
Idea: Assess how “real life” daily activity captured by various physical activity endpoints on a smart watch compares with traditional markers, and how daily activity can aid in prognostication over time.

Dena Stuart, BSN, RN – Nursing (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Address systemic factors such as racial disparities, poverty, inadequate social support and access to resources―which all play a significant role in infant and maternal mortality―by providing car seats and breast pumps to pregnant mothers in need.

Joan Tamburro, MD – Children's Institute (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Provide shared medical appointment to care for infants that suffer with infantile atopic dermatitis, while decreasing their risk for food allergies.

Anna Valujskikh, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop efficient and safe desensitization strategies to allow more life-saving organ transplants, reduce wait list time for many patients and increase rejection-free survival.

Andrew Zeft, MD, MPH – Children's Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Establish an innovative, collaborative pediatric rheumatology consultative service between Cleveland Clinic Main Campus and Cleveland Clinic Florida Pediatrics through physician and provider education and training.

Judy Zhang, BA, BS; Katherine Beshears, BS; Samantha Stallkamp Tidd, BS – Education (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a program that allows medical students to learn about the lived experiences of people with disabilities through interaction with an adult with a disability or a family who has a child with a disability.

Jun Zhao, PhD – Florida Research and Innovation Center (Cleveland Clinic Florida)
Idea: Further optimize and evaluate Cyclin G-associated kinase (GAK) and Phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases (PIPKs) inhibitors as novel therapeutics against drug-resistant- and virus-associated lymphomas in vitro and in vivo.

July 2023 Grant Recipients

We are excited to announce our latest round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants, Catalyst SPARK Awards and Hickey Innovation Impact Awards. Rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 43 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts from thousands of donors - totaling over $2M.

Caregiver Catalyst Grants Recipients

Amy Attaway, MD, MS – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Development of a Sarcopenia Center to diagnose and treat skeletal muscle loss due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Melissa Bailey, BSN – Digestive Disease and Surgery (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Provide patients with visual tools that demonstrate a step-by-step approach to intravenous nutrition at home.

Jeremy Baker, DO – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Translate our standardized discharge instructions into the languages encountered by the unit over the last 3 years to improve maternal and infant morbidity and mortality because of improved patient education.

Christina Bebb, DPT – Orthopedic & Rheumatologic (Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital)
Idea: Provide patients with Parkinson’s disease and financial limitations access to weekly Parkinson’s specific exercise classes to improve stiffness, imbalance, tremors and gait impairments.

Nora Brown, MSN, CNS – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Utilize community events, social media, public speaking and educational materials to engage with underrepresented communities to increase racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials.

Amanda Busby – Patient Experience (Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital)
Idea: Create a brain injury support group to address a lack of services for this patient group in a rural area. The group would allow for patients and family members to connect and learn from others who have similar injuries and circumstances.

Lai Chan, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Propose a novel therapeutic approach based on the negative interaction between two genes frequently carrying changes in their DNA sequences in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) which could lead to the development of tailored treatments for DLBCL.

Janet Conley, MBA, BSN, RN, CPHQ – Quality and Patient Safety (Cleveland Clinic Euclid Hospital)
Idea: Provide patients without the ability to pay for medications the opportunity to participate in the bedside medication delivery program to decrease patient complications and risk for readmission and relapse of illness.

Julie Corder, RN, MSN – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a center for complex care transitions to improve the process for young adults (age 16-25) with complex medical needs transitioning from a pediatric to an adult care model to decrease stress to patients and caregivers navigating a complex care system.

Thao-Vi Dao, MD – Community Care (The Langston Hughes Center)
Idea: Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) is an evidence-based, peer-led program for people living with chronic disease that empowers them to take charge of their own health. The Center for Community Health Workers plans to pilot CDSMP shared medical appointments to give our patients the tools to medically and emotionally manage their chronic diseases to improve quality of life and self-efficacy.

Peng Ding, MD, PhD, MPAS – Head and Neck Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a Real-time Aspiration Alarm Device on Tracheal Stent (RAAD-on-TS) to both detect and intervene during aspiration in real-time for chronic aspiration patients and high-risk aspiration population. If any aspiration occurs, the device will be able to detect it in real time and alert patients to cough out the food immediately, and then they can continue to eat without worrying about any serious consequences.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Chase Donaldson, MD – Anesthesiology Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a high fidelity simulation environment to practice everything from routine maintenance and managing time-sensitive emergencies for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapies.

Melissa Dubrow, DPT – Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Florida Weston Hospital)
Idea: Improve and progress the quality of pelvic health care through the use of a real-time ultrasound machine which will provide a more accurate and objective measurement of the pelvic floor.

Gerson Florez, MD – Orthopedic & Rheumatologic (Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital)
Idea: Create an international medical education program that fosters mentorship and training opportunities between Cleveland Clinic Florida and our orthopaedic colleagues in Latin America to help improve patient care and access.

Jennifer Gibbs, SLP – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Increasing communication of patient wants and needs through utilization of a community communication board across all therapy settings to improve caregiver’s response to communication breakdowns for patients who are non-speaking or limited verbal communicators.

Lisa Higginbotham, OTR/L, CHT – Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy (Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital)
Idea: Implement the Balance Smart Program to allow participants in the community to be measured and complete a group course in improving overall balance and strength skills.

Karunakaravel Karuppasamy, MBBS, MD, FRCR, MSc – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop curved stents with adjustable side-holes, deployable side-hole struts and branching limbs that can, for the first time, aptly treat the branches. Devices on this innovative platform technology, would revolutionize the treatment of branching sites seen in the body.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Frances Kokos – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Akron General)
Idea: Establish a resident education curriculum within Cleveland Clinic Akron General Family Medicine residency program to better serve children and adults with medically complex needs while transitioning from pediatric to adult primary care.

Vijay Krishna, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) deficiency using nanomaterials that mimic metabolic enzymes.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Taiyo Kuroda, MD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a wireless charging and battery system designed to be implanted in the abdominal region. The aim of this system is to provide power to a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) without the need for a skin-penetrating cable.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Vinod Labhasetwar, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop an intervention that minimizes the impact of spinal cord injury within the first 24 hours. This will help reduce secondary injury, level of disability and aid in the recovery process caused by physical impact trauma.

 *Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Suet Kam Lam, MD, IBCLC, MPH, MS – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Family Health Center)
Idea: Increase the accessibility of breastfeeding support for caregivers, patients and the community through education and lactation supplies, to help expand the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in our patient population.

Anne Lotierzo – Center for Behavioral Health (Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital)
Idea: Strengthen our local response to the growing need for early intervention in mental health crises through providing “Mental Health First Aid” training to Indian River Behavioral Health Center staff.

Sara Maskal, MD – Digestive Disease and Surgery (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Trial contemporary surgical techniques, repairing 2-6 centimeter incisional hernias using suture alone will be non-inferior to placing mesh at the time of repair with regards to patient-reported abdominal core health quality of life. This trial will challenge the paradigm that every patient needs permanent mesh placed during hernia repair.

Jennifer Owens – Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Improve patient care by utilizing the Genomics module, which surfaces genomic data through “genomic indicators” – specific gene results linked with clinically relevant information, e.g., dictation of treatment, risk of future disease or adverse drug reaction. Indicators are updated as new research and drugs reveal new connections and new decision support are added to notify caregivers of patients that may respond to a new treatment.

Rishi Puri, MD, PhD – Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a spacer device to block the gap in the middle of the aortic heart valve. This will provide a healing surface for the aortic leaflets, which are essential for blood flow.

*Hickey Innovation Impact Award Recipient

Lauren Sankary, JD, MA – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Build trust with underrepresented communities to increase collaborative participation in research studies at Cleveland Clinic, such as the Cleveland Clinic Brain Study, through holding meetings with community groups and hosting education sessions.

Michelle Schmidt, Med – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Develop a bank of resources and improve access to educational materials to better meet the social-emotional needs of individual students with autism at the Lerner School.

Lisa Seely, MS, PT – Cleveland Clinic Children's Therapy Services (Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Therapy Services)
Idea: Develop a patient program to benefit parents and their premature babies by teaching them how to play and position their babies for learning and achieving their developmental skills.

Natalie Silver, MD, MS, FACS – Head and Neck Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Establish a pipeline for data and specimen collection that will allow us to understand the role of microorganisms in Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) patients for future translational projects and clinical trials targeting the HNC microbiome.

Susan Stone, DDiv – Center for Spiritual Care (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Improve medical care of our veterans through identification as part of intake process; also working with the Military Employee Resource Group to develop appropriate forms of recognition and volunteer services to ensure that no veteran at any Cleveland Clinic facility dies alone.

Sharon Sutherland, MD, MPH – Ob/Gyn and Women’s Health (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Provide outreach and care coordination to high-risk women to increase the overall rate of completion of colposcopy from 86% to 93% and expand outreach to all women with abnormal cervical cancer screening resulted by Cleveland Clinic Ohio labs who have not completed a colposcopy.

Sarah Sydlowski, AuD, PhD, MBA – Head and Neck Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Explore improving hearing among patients who are at highest risk (those with diabetes, heart disease, and undergoing cancer treatments) and those experiencing cognitive decline who need every sense optimized by installing screeners in stand-alone, kiosk-based settings to allow patients to self-select screenings for their hearing.

Sadia Tasnim, MD – Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Construct a cost-effective, easily replicable simulation model for fundoplication, a routine procedure performed by general thoracic surgeons to develop a fundoplication simulation curriculum for our surgical trainees.

Mary Louise Tatum, MPH, MSN, BSN, BS – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center)
Idea: Connect more minorities to mental health care services by engaging community leaders, activists and residents in order to gain an understanding of the mental health needs, barriers to care and perceptions.

Larisa Tereshchenko, MD, PhD – Quantitative Health Sciences (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Utilize long-term, follow-up electronic health record data to provide new insights into the epidemiology, mechanisms and comparative effectiveness of various treatment approaches for Atrial Fibrillation.

Marko Velimirovic, MD, MMSc – Taussig Cancer Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: The Genomics Tumor Board (GTB) facilitates the patient-to-clinical trial matching process and helps oncologists offer the most advanced and current treatment options to their patients. This project aims to automate this matching process in order to offer participation in clinical trials to as many eligible patients as possible.

Chase Wehrle, MD – Digestive Disease and Surgery (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Identify a combined genomic, transcriptomic and immunologic signature that differentiates FOLFIRINOX responders from non-responders and thus identify those patients more likely benefit from FOLFIRINOX. This could reduce exposure to toxic therapy that lacks clinical benefit. This will form the basis for a planned submission for extramural funding to perform prospective validation of our findings, conduct randomized signature validation and translate these signatures into clinical practice.

Eric Wiedenfeld, MBA – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a mobile team of caregivers to provide inpatient and in-home behavioral consults for developmentally/intellectually delayed children who exhibit physical aggression. These consults would then lead to an 8-week, in-home therapy regimen where therapists would travel to patients' homes to provide care in the environment that best suits the patient and their families. The intention is to equip both the patient and their parents with the knowledge to manage behavioral outbursts at home without needing to visit the local emergency department.

Preethi William, MD – Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: During their hospital stay, patients will learn to perform self-record of vitals, heart failure zones, symptoms and learn about their heart failure medications. A pharmacist and RN heart failure advocate and educator will empower patients and family members during heart failure hospital stay.

Jianjun Wu, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel approach to make chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy a treatment option for solid tumor cancers.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Jianjun Zhao, MD, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Explore MZB1 antibody and nanobody drug development for multiple myeloma.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

January 2023 Grant Recipients

We are excited to announce our seventh round of Catalyst Grants recipients, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 31 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $1.4M from thousands of generous donors.

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Megan Adelman, PharmD – Pharmacy Services (Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital)
Idea: Increase the number of patients offered and enrolled in Akron General’s weight management clinic by 50% within the next year. Newly enrolled patients will have a set goal of losing 5% of their body weight within a year of enrollment.

Suneel Apte,MD, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Discovery of disease-modifying drugs to prevent joint cartilage breakdown in osteoarthritis.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Brian Barnett, MD – Center for Behavioral Health (Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital)
Idea: Examine the relationship between patient risk factors and the characteristics of patient neighborhoods to help improve inpatient psychiatric readmission risk modelling.

Jessica Caldwell, PhD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health)
Idea: Develop and test a web application for people caring for a loved one, especially a parent, with Alzheimer’s disease. The app is designed to aggregate caregiving resources and reduce caregivers’ personal risk for dementia.

Anirudha Das – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Study and assess medical, social and economic data for each new family in the existing electronic medical records (EMR) of all live births within Cleveland Clinic. The findings will be used to assign a risk score for each family to provide the most appropriate follow-up care plan.

Tina Di Fiore, MSN, APRN, NNP-BC, CNS – Nursing Institute (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Provide new families with use of an Infant Discharge Cart to reduce risk of infant carrier falls when leaving the hospital.

Frank DiFilippo – Imaging Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study and compare quantum-ready treatment plans to current clinical treatment plans to gather insights on how quantum computing can improve radiation doses and treatment outcomes.

Purva Grover, MD, MBA – Emergency Services Institute (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Use cognitive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy techniques to help pediatric mental health patients manage stress while in the emergency department.

Muskaan Gupta, MHA – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Provide culturally competent care and reduce health disparities related to conditions treated at the Respiratory Institute through education, research, community outreach and quality improvement.

Alexis Holt, MPA, MS.Ed, BS.Ed – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital)
Idea: Use physical education lessons to increase the self-efficacy of people suffering from arthritis.

Heather Huston Barkley, MBA – Cleveland Clinic Philanthropy Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Pilot a contracted scientific grant writer to work with physicians and their administrators on increasing philanthropic opportunities through grants.

Kate Ingalsby, MEd – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health)
Idea: Develop a workshop to increase brain health awareness, including the connection between brain health and physical health and how lifestyle modifications can decrease the likelihood of developing dementia.

Megan Jack, MD, PhD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study the effects of aerobic exercise treatments that can be paired with surgery to improve patients’ outcomes following peripheral nerve injuries.

Sadashiva Karnik, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Synthesize novel inhibitors of autoantibody which target angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) in preeclampsia (PE) to improve outcomes. These small-molecules may have additional applications in a variety of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including long-COVID-19.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Afshin Khan, MD, MPH – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Connect the highly vulnerable population served by the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Clinic to patient navigators to increase colorectal cancer screenings and help them navigate the medical system.

Feng Lin, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop novel nanobodies to fight and eventually diagnose the monkeypox virus.

Carrie Lundenberger, MS, OTR/L – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Provide safety kits to families who have a child with autism who are at risk for wandering.

Xiaoxiao Ma, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop novel T cell receptor (TCR) therapeutic agents to target resistance mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients to better eliminate tumor cells.

Charles Martin, MD, MBA – Imaging Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop immersive, 3D virtual reality-based education for pediatric cancer patients to reduce anxiety and fear associated with cancer therapies and illness perception.

Kathy McGlynn, MSN – Patient Support Services (Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital)
Idea: Implement a program to train caregivers how to identify and work with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, and birth trauma in a supportive, healing way.

Jeanette Messer, BS, MS, DVM, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Generate antibodies that broadly recognize amino acid sequence (CAMo-1) across microbial adhesins for diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Developing these antibodies would be a leap toward a new type of antimicrobial since it would allow clinicians to diagnose and treat diseases based on shared disease mechanisms instead of mechanisms specific to individual microbes.

 *Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Anita Modi, MD – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Engage HIV-positive patients and their providers in an effort to understand the specific needs of this high-risk community for kidney disease. Mobilize the resources of our HIV clinic and transplant center to act on what is learned.

Parth Patel, MD – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital)
Idea: Provide heart failure patients with self-monitoring tools and follow-up appointments via telemedicine; coach patients on medical therapy and medication management to reduce readmission rates and overall morbidity and mortality.

Parth Patel, MD – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital)
Idea: Train physicians on the use of bedside, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) to limit radiation exposure for patients, improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce hospital stays.

Yee Peng Phoon, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Evaluate the role of glutamine transporter SLC1A5 as a blood-based diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarker in melanoma and other cancers that are routinely treated with immunotherapy.

 *Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Pablo Recinos, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a navigation technology solution that is more mobile and accessible in order to make procedures such as external ventricular drain (EVD) placement more precise and safe. Our unique solution has the potential to simplify and shorten registration tenfold through the construction of a flexible lattice that measures changes in three-dimensions along the skin surface contours of the nasion, brow, temples and forehead and pairs this with matching outputs generated from the brain scan that has already been obtained.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Jennifer Rivchun, MSN, APRN, FNP-C – Quality & Patient Safety (Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital)
Idea: Increase access to printed domestic violence resources for South Pointe Emergency Department caregivers, patients and visitors, such as small brochures, a laminated safety reporting tool and a local resource list.

Ellen Rome, MD, MPH – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Strengthen patient-centered counseling by implementing the long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) toolkit in our 27 family health centers (FHCs) and pediatric residency program. The LARCS toolkits are designed to improve the overall reproductive health of young people, emphasize reproductive justice and avoid reproductive coercion.

Katerina Rooks, PTA, MS.Ed – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (Cleveland Clinic Florida – Weston Hospital)
Idea: Provide U-Step walkers to underserved patients diagnosed with neurological conditions to improve their safety and independence with ambulation.

Kimberly Sanders – Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Identify businesses, government and community-based organizations to collaborate with the Taussig Community Outreach Team to improve outreach to medically underserved populations with the ultimate goal of ending late-stage cancer detection.

Ann Marie Schroeder-Pace, BA, MPT – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Train young adults with a disability to volunteer at one of Cleveland Clinic’s therapy services locations and help them on a path towards employment as a Therapy Services Rehab Aide.

Morgan Stocker – Nutrition Services (Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital)
Idea: Maintain and stock the Akron General Food Pantry to improve patients’ ability to access healthy foods, therefore lowering admissions and readmissions related to hunger and fatigue.

Aaron Tipton, MD – Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop catheter design concepts that could enable the spatial application of UV light in the aorta and ultrasound elastography or optical coherence elastography to study efficacy. The aorta is the largest vessel in the body and is subject to high-pressure gradients as the heart pumps, so our design will consider these elements, as well as not interfere with blood flow to the body.

*Catalyst SPARK Award Recipient

Adriano Tonelli, MD, MSc – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study small blood vessels in the skin to develop tools that will improve treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension and reduce adverse reactions.

Jason Valent, MD – Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study how monoclonal protein analysis blood tests can be used as a screening mechanism for multiple myeloma. Prove this is a necessary and effective test that reduces the burden of late-stage cancer diagnoses on communities.

David Van Wagoner, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop treatments for atrial fibrillation by studying the kinetics of muscle contraction and relaxation without removing heart muscle from the patient.

Christina Vernace, BS, DO – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Martin Health)
Idea: Help pediatric patients facing financial challenges build their home libraries and their interest in reading by engaging the Reach Out and Read (ROR) program, the only national pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

July 2022 Grant Recipients

The Philanthropy Institute announces its sixth round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 33 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $1.8M from thousands of generous donors.

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Akhil Anand, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital)
Idea: Create the first multidisciplinary alcohol-associated liver disease clinic in Ohio caring for patients with alcohol-associated liver disease and alcohol use disorder.

Sofya Asfaw, MD – Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: The professional schools associated with the Cleveland Clinic are proposing a Middle School Outreach and Enrichment Conference (MSOEC) whereby 40 local middle school students can visit the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus and spend a day with health professions students and faculty from its affiliated Medical, Dental and Nursing schools to gain first-hand experience of what life is like as a healthcare professional.

Gerard Banez, PhD – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Launch a pilot program within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to provide coping strategies as preventative measures for reducing stress related physical and emotional health problems.

Carol Bennett, MSN, MBA – Nursing Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop and study the effects of an innovative protective shield for patients with a central line or wound dressing to protect against infectious agents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Jaclyn Bjelac, MD – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Partner with The Land of CAN, a company with the mission of “inspiring young people to embrace a CAN mindset by creating fun, accessible, world-class resources that promote wellness, empowerment and safety.” The Food Allergy Center of Excellence plans to connect patients with food allergies to The Land of CAN book featuring a personalized Cleveland Clinic Food Allergy Center foreword and cover.

Patrick Byrne, MD, MBA – Head & Neck Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study whether applying an electrical stimulus to nerve grafts during a surgical procedure can cure or alleviate the effects of facial paralysis.

Jonathan Castro, MD, MS – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital)
Idea: Demonstrate the utility of the electroencephalogram (EEG) technology and implement training for a rapid, low-channel, wireless EEG program at Marymount's ICU and ED available 24/7.

David Escobar, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Build a rigidity assessment robot tailored for human use, and test our assessment methodology in six Parkinson ’s disease patients before and after deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is administered to better identify DBS-induced changes.

Xiaoxi Feng, MD, MPH – Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Utilize video review as a surgical teaching tool to expanded opportunities to assess objectively, without time constraints of the operating room, or concern for prolonging anesthesia time for a patient.

Paul Ford, PhD – Center for Bioethics (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Bring together major Cleveland institutions, community leaders, and activists who infrequently work together to give an opportunity for us to share our experiences with the implementation of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training program in Glenville neighborhood that was co-created with community members.

Neetu Gupta, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Investigate the impact of B cell-specific Myo18A deficiency on IgA and gut health.

Sandra Hong, MD – Respiratory Institute (Strongsville Family Health Center)
Idea: Launch a peer support group for adolescents with food allergies. The group would offer education on healthy food choices and cooking demonstrations to help build confidence in safe, empowered living despite food allergies.

Angel Houston – Imaging Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study the benefits of utilizing aromatherapy with patients undergoing Cardiac Magnetic Resonance exams as a holistic alternative for stress reduction during imaging.

Lara Jehi, MD, MHCDS – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Work in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic Biorepository and the Heart, Vascular, & Thoracic Institute to study how bypassing the lungs during open-heart surgery can contribute to neurological complications.

Judy Jin, MD, FACS – Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Improve care for patients with primary hyperparathyroidism through tracking non-specific symptoms with a Fitbit to determine the cause of these symptoms and to make adjustments to increase overall quality of life.

Yu-Shang Lee, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel small peptide-based technology that can reduce scar tissue and promote nerve regeneration, thereby improving surgical success and patient outcomes for patients with peripheral nerve injury.

Feng Lin, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a more effective and economical complement inhibitor for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria patients who suffer other complement-mediated diseases.

Aileen Martinez, PharmD – Pharmacy Department (Cleveland Clinic Florida – Martin Health)
Idea: Create antimicrobial stewardship champions by offering Cleveland Clinic Martin Health (CCMH) pharmacists and infectious diseases providers self-guided, advanced antimicrobial stewardship training modules. This effort will amplify our objective of safe patient care and promote safe prescribing of antibiotics by clinicians for our patients.

Aaron Miller, PhD – Glickman Urology & Kidney Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel, non-antibiotic approach to eliminating infections of urologic implants that can result in pain or sepsis using nanoparticles to disrupt and inhibit growth of infection-causing biofilms.

Jessica Mullhall – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Address food insecurity and establish a healthy foods program, One Fruit Forward, for children and young adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism.

Anatoly Nikolaev, MD, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida – Weston Hospital)
Idea: Develop novel molecular targeting agents that enhance radiation sensitivities of p53 mutant high-risk cancer cell lines.

Kevin Pantalone, DO – Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute (Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg Family Health Center)
Idea: Study four antibodies which can be readily detected in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood. Assessing for these common markers of autoimmune diseases in Type 2 Diabetes patients that present to an endocrinology clinic, as well as those which are currently in a primary care setting, may allow us to better identify and characterize this subset of patients and to investigate whether a specific antibody marker, or multiple antibody markers, can predict the onset of insulin dependency.

Sonal Patil, MD, MSPH – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Lyndhurst)
Idea: Provide Lakewood Family Health Center patients who have uncontrolled hypertension with blood pressure (BP) measurement education and home BP monitors, along with scheduling shared medical appointments for lifestyle and mindfulness education to improve hypertension control.

Sathyamangla Prasad, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel therapeutic approach to provide unique opportunities for treatment strategies for heart failure.

Rishi Puri, MD, PhD – Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a leadless pacing system that can provide physiologic cardiac pacing that will overcome many of the short comings of current pacemaker devices.

*Leadless LVOT Pacing was also identified as the winner of the 5th annual Hickey Innovation Impact Award through a combined application process with Cleveland Clinic Innovations. The streamlined application allowed caregivers to apply for two grant opportunities at once. Innovations works with the Hickey Family Foundation to steward their generous contributions into a $25,000 grant each year to fund innovative medical technology development.

Akshay Sharma, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a sustainable and reproducible educational curriculum to inspire students who have systematically lacked exposure to the medical profession, helping them find joy and excitement in learning about the art of neurosurgery and medicine.

Neha Solanki, MD – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital)
Idea: Determine whether legal assistance to improve indoor living conditions of patients with asthma improves the quality of asthma care compared to standard care without this intervention.

Swetha Sundar, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop an expandable, interlocking device component using principles of origami mathematics that can enter the disc space through a small opening but maximize contact with vertebral endplates.

Rochelle Thibodeau, MS – Rehabilitation & Sports Therapy (Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital)
Idea: Design a small bulletin board to be displayed in patients’ rooms that would provide therapists names, therapy plan of care, ambulation requirements and other important information relevant to patient care.

Juan Venegas, MD – Genomic Medicine Department (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study whether certain patients have a predisposition of developing thyroid cancer and if they are more vulnerable to radiation so that caregivers can suggest preventative measures for this patient population.

Catherine Wilkins, MD – Ob/Gyn & Women's Health Institute (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Provide music to all patients admitted to Fairview and Hillcrest Hospitals for labor and delivery, including cesarean delivery, to improve the experience of childbirth.

Vivian Yu, MHSA – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Launch an internship to develop the next generation of diverse healthcare professionals through direct exposure to careers in healthcare management in order to foster an interest in graduate school and future employment at the Cleveland Clinic.

Jodi Zalewski, RN, MSN, CPNP-AC – Children's Hospital and Pediatrics (Cleveland Clinic Administrative Campus)
Idea: Implement a remote patient monitoring application for families with infants with congenital heart disease who are at high risk of adverse events to increase quality of life.

January 2022 Grant Recipients

The Philanthropy Institute announces its fifth round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 30 proposals from caregivers throughout Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $1.6M from thousands of generous donors.

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Huma Moulvi, MBA – Nursing Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Support families who lose loved ones by providing Child Life Specialists with more coping resources, like memory boxes and stuffed animals, to aid in the grieving process.

Nicole Berman, MSN – Care Coordination (Cleveland Clinic Akron General)
Idea: Deploy Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to meet with patients for a needs assessment to identify interventions, such as helping to access a patient assistance fund or providing blood pressure monitors, that will reduce future readmissions.

Karl West, MS – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea:  Implement the use of a 3D augmented reality system to improve the use of imaging guidance during cryoablation to freeze and destroy solid cancerous tumors.

Jonathan Sears, MD – Cole Eye Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a novel intravenous medicine that only targets the liver to protect premature infants from developing blindness, cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease.

Lianne Piorkowski, LPCC – Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health (Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital)
Idea: Offer an educational clinic to families of children that struggle with functional constipation and fecal incontinence to reduce their stress surrounding toileting and improve their quality of life.

Prabhleen Chahal, MD – Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Become the first academic institute in the world to integrate Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence to enhance visualization of the gastrointestinal system to improve the quality and safety of colonoscopy.

Graham Schwarz, MD – Dermatology & Plastic Surgery Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Compare two technologies to determine which is more successful at detecting early signs of lymphedema in breast cancer patients so that treatment might be more successful and less invasive.

Swetha Sundar, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a low-cost simulator to train neurosurgical residents in durotomy repair, a common spine surgery complication and critical skill in neurosurgical training.

Anne Huml, MD – Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop an opt-out intervention for kidney transplant referral to improve equity, timely evaluations, ascertain key barriers for evaluation and measure patient and provider perspectives.

Ashley Everett, CTRS – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Collaborate with Refresh Collective, a nonprofit youth arts program, to offer positive leisure activities with the goals of restoring self-efficacy, building self-esteem, and increasing community involvement for kids who have experienced physical, mental and emotional traumas.

Ian Winter, MD – Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a first-of-its-kind quality improvement program that uses simulation to study medical errors in radiation treatments to develop solutions that could spare cancer patients from emotional and physical pain, and even death.

Camila De Carvalho Teixeira, MD – Anesthesiology Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida – Weston)
Idea: Investigate how a novel neurological monitoring system could automate the process of diagnosing delirium in the hospital as early as possible to have better success in reversing it.

Laura Detti, MD – Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a technology to enhance egg maturation and fertilization for women who underwent ovarian tissue freezing for fertility preservation before beginning cancer treatments.

Saeid Mirzai, DO – Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop an accurate tool to measure sarcopenia – muscle loss – in heart failure patients to study how precise measurements can predict which patients will recover and how to build a targeted rehabilitation and diet program to stop muscle loss and improve cardiac recovery.

Swathi Appachi, MD – Head & Neck Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)<
Idea: Build a novel multidisciplinary center designed specifically to provide care to pediatric patients with voice disorders and collect data on treatment outcomes to help advance the field.

Casey Lawrence – Executive Administration (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study how providing an amenity kit upon admission – a recommendation found in patient research – can improve patients’ perceptions of hospital sounds and their effect on sleep and healing, to ultimately improve the organization’s vital “Quiet at Night” scores.

Nathan Ogonek, PT, DPT – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea: Provide access to adaptive tricycles for underprivileged children who receive physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech therapy to encourage continued strength training and exercise, and allow them to participate in a childhood activity.

Abigail Brown, MSN, MBA, ACNP – Medical Operations (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Integrate telemedicine capabilities into all four Cleveland Clinic Critical Care Transport (CCT) critical care ground ambulances in order to provide a higher level of care to patients during out of hospital transport.

Nathan Hart, PA-C – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Business Operations Center)
Idea: Bring specialized evaluation and treatment modalities into patients’ homes to provide a safe, high-quality and cost-effective alternative to low-value emergency department admissions and disease-specific insurance penalties for the enterprise.

Garett LaSalle, MD – Anesthesiology Institute(Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital)
Idea: Develop a method to administer a new treatment methodology for Parkinson’s disease that combines multiple medicines at the same time and injects them directly into the brain.

Wayne Tsuang, MD – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Use geospatial mapping methods in lung transplant patients to investigate how the cumulative social and environmental determinants of health affect outcomes such as infection or survival.

Nicole Seagraves, RT-(R)(CT) – Imaging Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida – Indian River)
Idea: Create a structured process to coordinate better use and management of power ports for cancer patients to reduce unnecessary needle sticks and that can increase the patient’s risk for infection.

Chirag Shah, MD– Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study how providing cost-effective preventative cancer screenings and health education to women who are homeless in the Cleveland area affects cancer-related mortality.

Jennifer Hockings, Pharm D, PhD – Pharmacy Department (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a clinical-grade, HIPAA-compliant chatbot that will educate patients on the benefits and limitations of pharmacogenomics testing that can help them make an informed decision about getting tested, and prepare them for the type of results they may receive.

Ghaith Habboub, MD– Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Use machine learning to better identify onset of sepsis 0-6 hours ahead of severe complications to give clinicians actionable and timely information for intervention.

Christopher Whinney, MD– Community Care(Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Invest in portable ultrasound devices to provide a low-cost, radiation-free, and noninvasive diagnostic tool that can lead to more timely diagnoses and therapies, provides more opportunities for patient-provider interactions, and has potential downstream positive effects on hospital throughput, length of stay, patient outcomes.

Midori Hitomi, DDS, PhD – Robert J. Tomsich Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Examine the ultrastructure of capillaries in heart biopsy samples to establish markers that could detect and predict heart transplant rejection to improve patients’ long-term survival rate.

Janice Gonzalez, RN Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Lorain Family Health & Surgery)
Idea: Implement CenteringParenting® at Lorain Family Medical Center – a healthcare model that brings 6-8 parents and their infants together in a shared medical appointment with their healthcare provider(s) to promote hands-on learning and openly discuss age-relevant topics around healthy development, nutrition, safety and early literacy issues.

Ian Houlihan, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Create a novel, nanotechnology-based treatment for kidney stones that would reduce the risk of injury to the tissue when fragmenting the stone’s surface.

Efstathios Kondylis, MD – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Test a new device that is placed in the brain to prevent strokes by directly monitoring blood flow through arteries at high risk of spasm after a brain bleed.

July 2021 Grant Recipients

The Philanthropy Institute announces its fourth round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 34 proposals from caregivers throughout the Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $1.7M from thousands of generous donors.

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Chris Abood – Community Care (Langston Hughes Community Health & Education Center)
Idea: Partner with Fairfax residents and community organizations to improve population health and well-being and serve as a pilot to execute Cleveland Clinic's Community Health Strategy to other at-risk populations and neighborhoods.

Joel Adu-Brimpong – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health)
Idea: Develop a tool that empowers providers with a user-friendly, centralized and credible source of information on the latest technology-enabled therapies for a variety of health conditions.

Allen Bashour, MD – Anesthesiology Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop an algorithm to predict new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing heart operations and identify patients who are at risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

Ethan Benore, PhD – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea:Offer access to biofeedback monitoring systems to children experiencing chronic pain to teach them how to improve their self-regulation and regain quality of life

Shane Bobart, MD – Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida)
Idea: Establish a kidney biopsy patient database to bolster future studies and clinical trials to treat kidney disease and help establish Cleveland Clinic as a kidney disease center of excellence.

Paul Bryson, MD – Head and Neck Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Investigate the efficacy of a lower risk and less invasive treatment for voice tremors using ultrasound technology.

Dusty Burke, MSN – Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health Institute (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea:Develop a program to provide trauma-informed care during pregnancy and childbirth to survivors of sexual assault to create a supportive, healing environment for birth and beyond.

Marni Dargis, RN – Robert J. Tomsich Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Institute (Cleveland Clinic Florida)
Idea: Study the correct dosage of plasma to correct an inability to form blood clots and reduce excessive bleeding.

Chase Donaldson, MD – Anesthesiology Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Give critically ill patients in the cardiovascular ICU access to specialized hand and leg bikes that can help them maintain strength and conditioning as they prepare for an organ transplant.

Charis Eng, MD, PhD – Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Idea: Predict the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in people with cancer and those known to have a high genetic susceptibility to cancer, and provide proof-of-concept for efficacy and safety of the vaccine in other immune system syndromes.

Laura Hoeksema, MD – Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea:Create a centralized program for caregivers across the enterprise to request confidential, one-on-one peer support from any location when experiencing distress after an unanticipated clinical event.

Torey Hovest, MBA – Cleveland Clinic Innovations (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Design and develop an operating room workstation to reduce musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries common among physicians performing hours-long operations.*

*This project was also identified as the winner of the 4^th annual Hickey Innovation Impact Award through a combined application process with Cleveland Clinic Innovations. The streamlined application allowed caregivers to apply for two grant opportunities at once. Innovations works with the Hickey Family Foundation to steward their generous contributions into a $25,000 grant each year to fund innovative medical technologies.

Dawn Howard – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital)
Idea: Develop video lessons offered through MyChart that prepare families to take home their premature babies to help prevent readmission of our most fragile patients.

Cynthia Johnson, PhD – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation)
Idea:Build bridges between early Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, treatment and future life transitions to improve patient care and parent support.

Mattathias Johnson – Human Resources (Cleveland Clinic Florida)
Idea: Offer a bi-weekly mental health literacy training from licensed therapists and counselors for all Cleveland Clinic Florida patients and caregivers in Weston to address social stigmas surrounding mental health and reduce stress overload.

Stephen Jones, MD, PhD – Imaging Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a minimally invasive approach to treat deep brain hemorrhages that are often too risky to remove and may result in devastating outcomes.

Jennifer Kambies, MBA – Office of Professional Staff Affairs (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Build a program and outreach strategy to enhance diversity recruitment efforts to meet our goal of making Cleveland Clinic the best place to work for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine (URiM).

Peris Kibera, DO – Community Care (Cleveland Clinic Akron General)
Idea:Study the effect of proper nutrition on chronic diseases to help inform “food as medicine” efforts among Cleveland Clinic patients.

Vinod Labhasetwar, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Demonstrate that increasing anti-cancer drugs in lymph nodes is more effective in treating advanced-stage cancer than IV injection and minimizes side effects through lower, more targeted doses.

Susan Linder, DPT – Neurological Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study the effects of employing a specific mode of aerobic exercise, originally developed at Cleveland Clinic to treat symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, to improve the gait and cognitive function in persons with Multiple Sclerosis.

Catrina Litzenburg, PhD – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center)
Idea: Enable community agencies serving families of preschool-aged children to complete the Chicago Parenting Program that provides education on emotional and behavioral problems specific to families of diverse backgrounds.

Jeannette Messer, DVM, PhD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Develop a novel approach to diagnose and treat Inflammatory Bowel Diseases that could address underlying disease triggers and decrease or eliminate the need for chronic immunosuppression and surgery.

Chad Michener, MD – Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study whether a combination of chemotherapy and a protein inhibitor can effectively treat recurrent ovarian cancer to avoid chemotherapy resistance.

Breanna Perlmutter, MD – Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea:Study how a prehabilitation regimen for patients undergoing pancreatic surgery can improve baseline metrics after surgery, result in a shorter hospital stay, and increase overall survival rates.

Adam Pires – Cleveland Clinic Regional Operations (Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital)
Idea: Offer a workshop for new dads where expectant dads can learn from "veteran" dads about techniques, bonding, forming a parent team, safety and supporting their partners.

Lorraine Rhoden – Center for Behavioral Health (Cleveland Clinic Florida)
Idea: Provide clothing and hygiene items upon discharge to indigent patients to improve their hospital experience and comfort inside and outside of the health center.

Susannah Rose, PhD – Patient Experience (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Study how caregivers view the role of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare to ensure that a primary goal of employing this technology is to enhance empathy – not merely to make providers more productive.

Roxana Siles, MD – Respiratory Institute (Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital at Richard E. Jacobs Campus)
Idea: Address racial and ethnic disparities affecting Hispanic/Latino patients living with asthma to improve overall asthma management and minimize the risk of ER visits and hospital readmissions.

Christine Skovira – Clinical Transformation (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Build a model to predict changes in depression and anxiety at a neighborhood level to support Cleveland Clinic’s ability to make behavioral health resource allocation more targeted and patient-centered.

Sarah Stamp – Cleveland Clinic Innovations (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Enable Cleveland Clinic Innovations to facilitate Structured Innovation sessions across the enterprise to help caregivers identify problems and opportunities, generate creative ideas, and transform solutions into effective action.

Tyler Stimpert – Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Address the pandemic-related decline in new cancer diagnoses through an educational campaign to increase awareness and screening rates in underserved neighborhoods.

Wilson Tang, MD – Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Cleveland Clinic Main Campus)
Idea: Test whether retinal photography can be used as a non-invasive predictive tool for heart failure that can be scaled as a population health disease-monitoring initiative.

Christine Traul, MD – Cleveland Clinic Children’s (Cleveland Clinic Children’s, Main Campus)
Idea: Expand the reach of the main campus-based Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC) team to regional hospitals so they can provide grief support and transitional care items to more families who experience the loss of their child.

Chiedozie Udeh, MD – Anesthesiology Institute (Cleveland Clinic Administrative Campus)
Idea: Enhance the accuracy of the virtual ICU care model to allow providers to triage their time more effectively.

January 2020 Grant Recipients

The Philanthropy Institute announces its third round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 20 proposals from caregivers throughout the Cleveland Clinic. These grants are made possible by the combined gifts of more than $825,000 from over 10,000 generous donors. 

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Carl Tyler, MD – Cleveland Clinic Community Care
Idea: Establish infrastructure to provide comprehensive, cost-effective care to people with disabilities and develop collaborative, ongoing relationships with community organizations that serve this population.

Michele Acheampong, MPH – Cleveland Clinic Community Care
Idea: Provide local, underrepresented talent with an 8-week paid internship experience to develop their skills and increase their likelihood of pursuing healthcare careers.

Saket Saxena, MD – Cleveland Clinic Community Care
Idea: Implement a set of uniform cognitive assessments for signs of dementia in patients 65 and older at all Family Health Centers.

Louie Hendon III, BSME – Continuous Improvement
Idea: Offer a 12-month, mentorship-based and experiential training program to African-American caregivers interested in career growth and leadership development.

Michael Klingler, MD, MS – Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute
Idea: Conduct a study that examines the effects of a novel endoscopic treatment for gastroparesis in patients with diabetes to help patients manage blood sugar more effectively.

Duriye Sevgi, MD – Cole Eye Institute
Idea: Develop quality assessment tools for ophthalmic imaging tests to increase eye exam efficiency, decrease the need for repeated testing and minimize caregiver workload.

Mary Beth Mercer, MPH – Office of Patient Experience
Idea: Expand the reach of “Care to Share” posters at main campus. The posters allow patients to voice their values upon hospital admission, fostering empathy and communication within the caregiver-patient relationship.

Prabalini Rajendram, MD – Respiratory Institute
Idea: Implement a nine-month interprofessional education (IPE) program for Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic Health Education Campus students to collaborate with Fairfax neighborhood residents and organizations.

Jennifer Bayer, MSSA – Pediatric Institute
Idea: Provide a sleep sack and an educational book to parents of NICU babies at discharge to prevent SIDS.

Rebecca Wellman, PhD – Neurological Institute
Idea: Bring children and older patients with memory loss together to engage in music therapy in order to enhance older patients’ memory recall and reduce behavioral challenges.

Amy Colver, MSSA, MA – Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center
Idea: Provide blood and marrow transplant patients with kits that include  items meant to keep patients “afloat” during the intense recovery period, such as coloring books, word puzzles, writing activities, and more.

Reena Mehra, MD, MS – Neurological Institute
Idea: Use blood samples to study a genetic link between Alzheimer’s disease and sleep disruption.

Steve Insler, DO – Anesthesiology Institute
Idea: Study the association between the effectiveness of postoperative pain management and patient phenotypes of specific pharmacogenomics genes in order to combat opioid addiction.

Richard Aguilera, MD – Neurological Institute
Idea: Increase access to rehabilitation robotics to offer advanced patient interventions, improve patient outcomes, and facilitate more medical education and research.

Nora Knipper, MSN, NEA-BC – Nursing Institute
Idea: Improve care for vulnerable infants before they go home through education and providing airway challenge test-compliant car seats.

Rasheeda Larkin, MPA – Cleveland Clinic Community Care
Idea: Aim to reduce infant mortality through education at community baby showers in high-risk neighborhoods.

Asha Kallianpur, MD, MPH – Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Identify potential drivers of chronic kidney disease and cognitive impairment in individuals with HIV to suggest novel interventions and attract external funding for a larger study.

Donnamarie Cook, CHES, M.Ed. – Government and Community Relations
Idea: Prevent opioid abuse through a youth-led public service announcement project.

Ahila Subramanian, MD, MPH – Respiratory Institute
Idea: Study the impact of vaping on patients with asthma and provide multi-prong educational interventions to prevent patients from vaping in the future.

Ashley Torgerson, BS – Pediatric Institute
Idea: Provide children living with chronic conditions or disabilities access to therapeutic photography.

July 2019 Grant Recipients

The Philanthropy Institute announces its next round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 32 proposals from caregivers throughout the enterprise. In total, over $1 million is being awarded to these ideas and concepts from a pool of dollars given generously by more than 12,000 donors. The next round of Caregiver Catalyst Grants is set to begin August 1, 2019.

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Sarah Beinkampen, MHA - Chief of Staff
Idea: Create a fellowship program to train medical scribes in order to ease the burden of documentation for staff, and give them more face-to-face time with patients.

Carol Bennett, MBA, MSN, APRN, PCNS-BC - Nursing Institute
Idea: Reduce sound and noise levels in the NICU to mitigate the negative effects noise can have on the development of the fetal central nervous system.

Anirban Bhattacharyya, MD, MPH - Respiratory Institute
Idea: Use artificial intelligence to develop an algorithm to help determine when patients should be discharged from the Medical Intensive Care Unit.

Jaclyn Bjelac, MD - Cleveland Clinic Children's
Idea: Examine the effectiveness of boiled peanuts oral immunotherapy to safely treat children with peanut allergies.

Robyn Busch, PhD - Neurological Institute
Idea: Integrate cognitive health test results into electronic medical records to inform real-time clinical decision making in the Neurological Institute.

Donnamarie Cook, MEd - Government and Community Relations
Idea: Create a new school-based initiative to provide programming focused on nutrition and physical activity to students and families in Lorain County, Ohio.

Caitlin Durnil, LPN - Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute
Idea: Develop a registry dashboard to coordinate patient care, track outcomes, and set up patient surveillance efficiently for early GI cancer patients.

Kate Eshleman, PsyD - Cleveland Clinic Children's
Idea: Provide new and expanded education and social activities to support siblings and families of children diagnosed with hematological and oncological disorders.

Aldo Fafaj, MD - Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute
Idea: Work with physical therapists, nursing, and surgical staff to design an early ambulation initiative to improve patient recovery after surgery.

Susan Farris, MEd - Neurological Institute
Idea: Create advanced care planning documents and standardized protocols for patients and their families when diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease.

Aaron Fleischman, PhD - Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Create micro-pressure sensors that will be used to measure pressure in a variety of applications such as patients with glaucoma or hydrocephalus.

Kelly Gaffney, PharmMD - Medical Operations
Idea: Examine the impact of increased pharmacist involvement in cancer patient care.

Emily Guthe, MM, MA, MT-BC - Arts and Medicine Institute
Idea: Provide new forms of support for families with infants diagnosed with life-limiting illnesses.

Anny Ha, MS, RD, CDE, CEDRD - Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute
Idea: Create an eight-week program for patients that aims to improve diabetes self-management skills and the psychosocial impact of living with diabetes.

Bridgett Harr, MSN, APRN-CNP, AOCNP - Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center
Idea: Provide new learning experiences to residents while measuring the efficiency of a pen-tablet device in radiation oncology contouring.

Betul Hatipoglu, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute
Idea: Assess physician burnout and its health consequences and minimize through combined mindfulness-based intervention and nutritional counseling.

Gayle Kanary - Cleveland Clinic Children's
Idea: Create a day camp experience for children and families who are unable to typically participate in a traditional day camp setting due to the child’s illness or injury.

Irene Katzan, MD, MS - Neurological Institute
Idea: Address persistent “hidden” symptoms post-stroke (anxiety, sleep disturbance, depression, and memory issues) to improve care for stroke patients.

Varun Kopparthy, PhD - Dermatology & Plastic Surgery Institute
Idea: Develop an automated ex-vivo normothermic perfusion machine, a device that will preserve amputated extremities.

Suet Kam Lam, MD, MPH, MS - Pediatrics
Idea: Mobilize the efforts of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine students who are in the Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association to provide outreach into the Asian-American community about Hepatitis B.

Haider Mahdi, MD - Ob/Gyn & Women's Health Institute
Idea: Use plasma samples of ovarian cancer patients to analyze tumors in DNA to ultimately develop a non-invasive test for ovarian cancer.

Christine McDonald, PhD - Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Use a molecule inhibitor to evaluate the effectiveness of a topical skin cancer treatment.

Laurie Ann Moennich, MPH, CPH - Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Miller Family)
Idea: Compare the acquisition of clinical measures through telemedicine vs. in-person to improve clinical trial participation.

Andrea Mucci, MD - Cleveland Clinic Children's
Idea: Provide Fit-Bit monitors to children, along with three of their family members, to improve the health and fitness of families who are participants in the CCF “Be Well” Program.

Kathy Praisler-Wood, MSN, BSN - Community Care
Idea: Provide a certified nurse practitioner to Amish communities in Northeast Ohio for primary healthcare support.

Therese Kastelic, LISW-S - Neurological Institute
Idea: Use virtual reality software that increases mindfulness and reduces depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and panic attacks to enhance substance abuse treatment outcomes.

Courtney Shell, MS, PhD - Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Use well-established perceptual illusion to help reduce the pain and anxiety of pediatric patients during needle stick procedures.

Stefanie Shimko-Lin, RN - Information Technology Division
Idea: Develop a comprehensive workflow in the electronic medical record to increase timely organ donation referrals.

Stephanie Smith, RN, CCRN - Nursing Institute
Idea: Create a private space for nurses and other caregivers in the Medical Intensive Care Unit to grieve the loss of a patient.

Susan Snyderburn, PA-C - Respiratory Institute
Idea: Arrange transportation for patients in need to reduce the no-show rate for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma, and Pulmonary Hypertension Clinics.

Ellen Walter, MSN - Neurological Institute
Idea: Improve Parkinson’s disease-specific health literacy of care partners of individuals with Parkinson’s disease in order to empower the care givers and ease their burden.

Judith Welsh, MD - Emergency Services Institute
Idea: Enable the community paramedicine team to provide a broader range of services to homebound, chronically ill adults.

January 2019 Grant Recipients

The Philanthropy Institute announces its January, 2019 Caregiver Catalyst Grants, rewarding the innovation and initiative of the following 29 proposals from caregivers throughout the enterprise. In total, over $1 million is being awarded to these ideas and concepts from a pool of dollars given generously by more than 20,000 donors.

Caregiver Catalyst Grant Recipients

Michelle Del Toro, MPH, MALS - Office of Diversity & Inclusion
Idea: Integrate fun, educational dialogues and fitness activities with incentive-based awards and prizes to encourage youth to be physically active and adopt healthy behaviors.

Robert DeBernardo, MD - Ob/Gyn & Women's Health Institute
Idea: Use augmented reality in the operating theater to give physicians the ability to visualize anatomy from any perspective.

Tina Ulanowski, MEd, CCLS & Michelina Bacisin, BA, CCLS - Nursing Institute
Idea: Create kits of developmentally appropriate journals and expressive art items to comfort children and create keepsakes.

Gayle Ivory - Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center
Idea: Expand an existing cancer survivor’s support group to provide continued encouragement and empowerment to cancer survivors.

John O’Toole, MD - Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute
Idea: Use computational tools to identify individuals with unrecognized advanced kidney disease, and establish a care plan that will improve transitions of the disease, reduce barriers, and promote kidney transplantation.

Jennifer Negrey, MOT, OTR/L, BCP, CLT - Cleveland Clinic Children's
Idea: Host a series of six free evening events that will give parents a respite from caring for children with complex medical needs.

Shannon Sonnhalter, CCLS - Nursing Institute
Idea: Use distraction kits and novel devices, partnered with provider training to make vaccines and needle procedures more comfortable for pediatric patients.

Jessica Marzulli - Cleveland Clinic Hospice Care Center
Idea: Use virtual reality software to provide hospice patients with the ability to engage in interactive, once in a lifetime experiences, such as riding a roller coaster or walking with elephants.

Ryan Klatte, BSBME - Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Create 3D printed exact replicas of organs to enable surgeons to better examine anatomy, and design the appropriate surgery.

Ritika Jaini, PhD - Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Conduct a study to confirm the importance of maternal genetics in determining severity of in-utero inflammation and incidence/severity of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Vladimir Bolshinsky, MD - Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute
Idea: Conduct a study that will determine the anatomical factors associated with the quality of the rectal resection in curative rectal cancer surgery to improve the quality of rectal cancer surgical outcomes.

Brian Yard, PhD - Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute
Idea: Conduct a large profiling effort to identify gene mutations that affect survival to radiation therapy.

Margaret McKenzie, MD – Center for Occupational Health
Idea: Provide home blood pressure monitors to residents in Warrensville Heights, Ohio to help facilitate individuals taking better control of their health, and increase awareness of blood pressure.

Francois Bethoux, MD - Neurological Institute
Idea: Conduct a preliminary study to evaluate the therapeutic use of exoskeletons for patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

Jessica Timms, MS, CCLS - Nursing Institute
Idea: Record parents’ voices to be played at various times throughout the day for their children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to foster the attachment between parents and their newborns.

Jeremy Weleff, MD - Neurological Institute
Idea: Connect homeless individuals with community partners to optimize how homeless patients are identified and treated within the Cleveland Clinic Healthcare System.

Salena Ramsey, BA, CCLS - Imaging Institute
Idea: Decrease anesthesia and implement interactive demonstrations with pediatric patients to promote a more positive MRI experience.

Lisa Shea - Arts and Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center
Idea: Provide art supplies for late stage cancer patients to leave a meaningful legacy project for their families.

Laura DePiero RN, BSN, CHPN – Center for Connected Care
Idea: Expand Camp Promise, a summer camp for children ages 6-11 years old who have suffered a loss.

Jason Hale, MD - Anesthesiology & Pain Management
Idea: Provide a Nitrous Oxide treatment to patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome as a safer, more comfortable treatment alternative.

Milvon Wright, MSW, LSW - Cleveland Clinic Children's
Idea: Provide wellness bags, pillbox locks, and establish a financial hardship fund to help remove barriers for patients with Sickle Cell Disease.

Xin Xin Yu, MD - Neurological Institute
Idea: Pair medical students with patients who live with chronic conditions (such as Parkinson’s disease) to meet and interact one-on-one outside of typical clinical encounters.

Jessica Timms, MS, CCLS & Katie Eureka, CCLS - Nursing Institute
Idea: Purchase sensory items to help children with sensory issues become more comfortable during their hospital visits.

Rebecca Rothstein, MA, BCBA - Cleveland Clinic Children’s Lerner School for Autism
Idea: Purchase specialized equipment to aid caregivers treating patients with high levels of severe aggression and self-injurious behaviors.

Donna Driscoll, PhD - Lerner Research Institute
Idea: Train and educate women and minorities in biomedical research as a part of the program, RISE in Cleveland, to develop a diverse pipeline of talent for the future.

Nathan Mesko, MD - Orthopedic & Rheumatologic Institute
Idea: Alleviate financial hardship for patients who need specialty Sarcoma care at Cleveland Clinic.

Aaron Ritter, MD - Neurological Institute
Idea: Conduct a study to develop a treatment for cognitive decline in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Brandon Hopkins, MD - Head & Neck Institute
Idea: Create a tracheostomy care path to improve quality of care and decrease remissions and complication rates for patients.

Jason Turowski, MD - Respiratory Institute
Idea: Study the utilization of a Virtual Visit program for lung transplant patients to improve patient engagement, satisfaction, and retention of transplant educational material.