Collaboration includes three joint doctoral degrees and numerous research projects

For close to a half-century, Cleveland State University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute have partnered to enhance medical and science education while helping to advance discovery in numerous disciplines. This collaboration will continue to develop and expand thanks to a new memorandum of understanding signed by the two organizations this month. The agreement will extend the three doctoral programs run jointly by CSU and Cleveland Clinic, promote continued teaching opportunities for Cleveland Clinic researchers at CSU and advance research opportunities for CSU students and faculty at Cleveland Clinic.

“Cleveland Clinic is universally recognized as one of the best medical centers in the world and our longstanding relationship has provided our students with one-of-a-kind engaged learning experiences and opportunities to be mentored by some of the top scientists in their fields,” says Ronald M. Berkman, president of Cleveland State University. “We are extremely pleased to be extending this agreement for the future benefit of both institutions.”

“We are pleased to continue our important work with Cleveland State University to train the next generation of scientists and advance medical research,” says Serpil Erzurum, M.D., chair of the Lerner Research Institute. “As one of the largest research institutes in the nation, our trainees have the opportunity to study in our leading-edge facilities and make scientific contributions to improve patient care. We look forward to our ongoing collaboration and working together to innovate and move medicine forward.”

CSU and Cleveland Clinic offer joint Ph.D. programs in regulatory biology, established in 1971, and bio-analytical chemistry, created in 1998. They also offer a doctorate in applied biomedical engineering, begun in 1997, and a concentration in molecular medicine, which is available through all three doctoral programs and was started in 2005. Close to 300 students have graduated from these programs and over 100 Cleveland Clinic scientists currently hold adjunct appointments at CSU.

In addition, CSU offers a laboratory summer research experience for biology and chemistry majors at LRI and numerous CSU faculty conduct research with Cleveland Clinic scientists. This includes a longstanding relationship between CSU’s internationally recognized Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease and Lerner Research Institute.

“CSU’s growing reputation as a center for medical and scientific research and education is due in large part to our strong partnership with Cleveland Clinic, which has provided tremendous value to our students and faculty as well as the medical community at large,” adds Jerzy Sawicki, Vice President for Research at CSU.

Graduates of CSU/Cleveland Clinic doctoral programs now serve in key scientific and administrative positions at some of the world’s most prestigious health care centers. Prominent alumni include: Andrius Kazlauskas, former professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School; Joe El-Khoury, co-director of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at Yale Medical School and Linnea Baudhuin, associate professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the Mayo Clinic.

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