Fueling Innovation Today for a Better Tomorrow
Since Cleveland Clinic’s founding as a nonprofit academic medical center in 1921, research, innovation and education have been integral components of our mission. Over 100 years later, powered by the generosity of our donors, we’re at the forefront of scientific discovery, intent on finding and pursuing treatments and cures.
Find out what we’re researching and how we’re innovating to benefit patients around the globe.
As we enter our second century, our work will have a new place to develop and thrive. The Cleveland Innovation District will provide an environment for scientists and clinicians to ask the most pressing questions of our time and pursue answers that will change and save lives.
Giving Transforms Healthcare
“Philanthropic funding is the catalyst for new research avenues. Such funding is especially important for conducting ‘high-risk, high-gain’ research, the type that is needed to revolutionize our way of fighting infectious diseases such as COVID-19.”
Michaela Gack, PhD
Scientific director for the Florida Research and Innovation Center
“I think it’s hard for donors to understand the impact of their contributions to medical research. The results are not immediate and may take decades. But the funding can change healthcare around the world.”
Vincent Tuohy, PhD
Staff immunologist at the Lerner Research Institute
A Legacy of Breakthroughs
Highlights from Our Century of Care
With a legacy of innovation, researchers in Cleveland Clinic laboratories have contributed to many key discoveries that have changed modern medicine, including:
1948
Discovery of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects body and mood
Irvine Page, MD, elevated Cleveland Clinic into a research powerhouse by spearheading the discovery of serotonin, now considered one of the most important findings in neuroscience.
1956/67
Pioneering “stopped heart” surgery (1956) and coronary artery bypass surgery (1967)
René Favaloro, MD, pioneered coronary bypass surgery by replacing a segment of dangerously blocked coronary artery with a vein from the leg to restore blood flow to the heart.
1958
Development of coronary angiography to reveal artery blockages
F. Mason Sones, MD, revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease with his discovery of the angiogram, a procedure that uses X-ray images to see the heart’s blood vessels.
1963
Establishment of cadaver donor use in kidney transplants
Bruce Steward, MD, and Ralph Stratton, MD, performed a kidney transplant. Dr. Stratton and his team proved that organs from nonliving donors could be successfully transplanted, allowing thousands more lives to be saved each year.
1980s
Discovery of brain-mapping technique to pinpoint epileptic seizures
Joseph Hahn, MD, helped developed a brain-mapping technique using an implanted electrode grid, enabling surgeons to precisely locate where seizures originate in patients with epilepsy.
2008
First U.S. near-total face transplant
Surgeons use 3D modeling to help plan for the hospital’s third face transplant in 2017 on 21-year-old Katie Stubblefield, the world’s youngest face transplant recipient.
2016
World’s first deep brain stimulation surgery to restore function after stroke
Judy Slater, the first patient to undergo DBS surgery for stroke rehabilitation. Her recovery was so remarkable, she threw out the first pitch at a major league baseball game.
2019
First North American birth of a baby following deceased-donor uterine transplant
The uterus transplant offers hope to women worldwide who are unable to have a baby due to uterine factor infertility.
2020
First program in the United States to complete its 2,000th heart and 2,000th lung transplantations
Surgeons perform the 2,000th heart transplant at Cleveland Clinic.
2021
World’s second lifesaving fetal surgery to remove rare heart tumor
“This case is as hard as they come,” said Darrell Cass, MD, director of Cleveland Clinic’s fetal surgery program. “There are only a few comprehensive fetal surgery programs that have the personnel and infrastructure to tackle this.”
2021
Engineers a first-of-its-kind mind-controlled “bionic arm” with sense of touch
“With the new bionic limb, people behaved like they had a natural hand,” said Paul Marasco, PhD, who leads the Lerner Research Institute’s Laboratory for Bionic Integration.
2021
Development of a vaccine to prevent deadly triple-negative breast cancer
Vincent Tuohy, PhD, developed a revolutionary breast cancer vaccine.
2022
Launches first-of-its-kind brain study aimed at diagnosing and preventing neurological diseases before symptoms occur
Andre Machado, MD, PhD, Chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute, spearheaded the groundbreaking Cleveland Clinic Brain Study.