Up to the Research Challenge

At Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, medical progress starts with questions: Could a vaccine prevent breast cancer? Is there a better way to predict the risk of heart attacks? How can we destroy cancer cells without harming normal ones? How can we stop Alzheimer’s progression?

To seek answers, Cleveland Clinic researchers depend on philanthropic support. The first endowed chair supporting research was established at Cleveland Clinic in 1980, as the Sherwin-Page Chair. Today there are 86 endowed chairs at Cleveland Clinic.

To meet a critical need for new and innovative research, Cleveland Clinic has launched a creative approach to attracting philanthropic support for research, the Endowed Chair Challenge. Benefactors’ contributions toward endowed chairs in the Lerner Research Institute will be matched using similar funds within Cleveland Clinic.

“This was a challenge born of Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to furthering scientific progress,” says Paul E. DiCorleto, PhD, Lerner Research Institute Chairman and holder of the Sherwin-Page Chair.

Endowed chairs enable chair holders to start new projects, support additional staff, pay for equipment and cover the cost of experiments, and they are incentives in recruiting and retaining top researchers. Endowed chairs also support the collection of preliminary data by chair holders, an important step in obtaining new outside funding. The endowment revenue also may support investigations into new treatment approaches from which patients will benefit most.

The first two chairs arising from the challenge honor ­Robert Canova of New York, who passed away in 2009. The Robert Canova Endowed Chair in Angiogenesis Research and the Robert Canova Endowed Chair in Inflammation Research were dedicated on Oct. 7.

Paul Fox, PhD, holder of the Robert Canova Endowed Chair in Inflammation Research, is studying mechanisms and conditions in the body that regulate and disrupt control of inflammation. Inflammation contributes to many diseases, including atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Tatiana Byzova, PhD, holder of the Robert Canova Chair in Angiogenesis Research, is developing strategies to control blood vessel formation and accelerate healing following tissue damage. Blood vessel growth is a factor in cancer, diabetes and macular degeneration.

“Endowed chairs provide recognition and prestige to very well-deserving researchers and allow them to pursue brand-new areas they believe have high potential,” Dr. DiCorleto says. “In challenging economic times, the generosity and vision of our endowed chair benefactors allow us to continue important medical research.”