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March 2025
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Ranks No. 1 in NIH Funding
The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at The MetroHealth System and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) ranks No. 1 in the nation in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding among PM&R departments in U.S. medical schools. The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research released the 2024 rankings based on NIH funding to individual researchers and academic institutions.
The Department of PM&R at MetroHealth and CWRU is housed in the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute, which includes a state-of-the-art clinical, research and education space at MetroHealth's Old Brooklyn Medical Center. The Rehabilitation Institute works to restore function, societal participation and quality of life for people with significant neurological and musculoskeletal impairments and functional limitations.
This is the second time in three years the Department of PM&R earned the top spot. It has also placed in the top five for the past several years.
September 2024
Newsweek Recognizes Rehabilitation Institute
For the fourth time in five years, Newsweek has placed MetroHealth on its list of Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers, a designation presented with Statistica Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute had two programs receive special mention: the Center for Brain Injury Rehabilitation (led by Victoria Whitehair, MD) and the Center for Stroke Rehabilitation (led by James Begley, MD).
Newsweek's fifth-annual ranking lists the best facilities in the 25 states with the largest number of facilities according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Facilities from the remaining states were grouped into four regions.
NIH Awards $3.5 Million to MetroHealth Researcher for Sleep Apnea Study
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant to support the sleep apnea research of J. Daryl Thornton, MD, MPH, a critical care specialist and pulmonologist and Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at MetroHealth.
Dr. Thornton, who also is Director of the Center for Health Equity, Engagement, Education, and Research (CHEEER) at MetroHealth, and researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have launched the "Improving Sleep in African American Couples" (ISAAC) study.
July 2024
U.S. News Ranks MetroHealth's Rehabilitation Institute Among the Best in Nation
U.S. News & World Report has once again ranked the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute as one of the best in nation for the care of patients recovering from complex conditions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury and traumatic spinal cord injury.
“It is a great honor to be one of the top 5% of rehabilitation hospitals nationwide,” said Richard Wilson, MD, Chair, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). “This demonstrates the dedication and expertise of our rehabilitation team in providing top-level care for those in our community who have disabilities.”
November 2023
Rehabilitation Researchers Awarded Ohio Third Frontier Research Spinal Cord Injury Grants
The Ohio Third Frontier Research Incentive – Spinal Cord Injury Program is a competitive grant award program administered by the Ohio Department of Higher Education to advance spinal cord injury (SCI) research at institutions of higher education.
October 2023
MetroHealth's Kim Anderson-Erisman, PhD, Named to National Academy of Medicine
Kim Anderson-Erisman, PhD, research faculty in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) and the Center for Rehabilitation Research at MetroHealth, is among the newest class elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
Dr. Anderson-Erisman, who joined MetroHealth in 2018, is Director of the Northeast Ohio Regional Spinal Cord Injury System (NORSCIS) based at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute and operated with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). She is also professor of PM&R at CWRU School of Medicine. The department of PM&R at CWRU is based at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute.
August 2023
U.S. News Ranks MetroHealth's Rehabilitation Institute Among Top in Nation
U.S. News and World Report has once again ranked the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute as one of the best in the nation for the care of patients recovering from complex conditions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury and traumatic spinal cord injury.
“We take an enormous amount of pride in the care we provide at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute,” said Richard Wilson, MD, Interim Chair, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). “While it is an honor to be ranked, that is not why we do this work. Our singular focus is helping people reclaim their lives after devastating injuries, strokes and other health conditions through state-of-the-art care and groundbreaking research.”
April 2023
Dr. Kelly Gibson Awarded Renewal of $2.5 Million NIH - Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Research Network Grant
Last month, MetroHealth’s obstetric research team led by Kelly Gibson, MD – Director, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology – was awarded continued funding to participate as one of only a few selected institutions from across the country in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute in Child Health and Human Development’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Research Network.
This seven-year, $2.5 million grant will allow Dr. Gibson and her collaborators from MetroHealth, University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic to perform groundbreaking obstetric research that will improve pregnancy outcomes for our own patients and improve pregnancy care nationally and internationally.
Medical practices during pregnancy can be influenced by patient and societal expectations without an objective evaluation of their impacts on mother and baby. Given the current crisis and significant racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality, research to bring evidence-based practices to the bedside is essential to improving pregnancy outcomes and eliminate these disparities.
Since its inception, the MFMU research network has conducted studies that have provided new knowledge and treatments, especially in the areas of prematurity prevention and pregnancy care.
Past studies have found the benefits of antibiotics to prolong pregnancy after premature preterm rupture of the membranes and cervical length screening to reduce the risk of preterm delivery, among other effective treatments. Other studies have put an end to expensive but ineffective interventions, such as fetal oxygen monitoring and EKG analysis in labor, both of which failed to improve pregnancy outcomes. Recent and ongoing MFMU network studies include interventions to prevent preterm birth in twins, treatment of sleep apnea in pregnancy, opioid therapy after cesarean delivery, as well as evaluation of the impact of and treatments for H1N1, Varicella, hepatitis and cytomegalovirus infections, and, most recently, COVID-19 during pregnancy.
MFMU network studies have changed the practice of obstetrics in the U.S. for over 35 years and investigators in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at MetroHealth and Reproductive Biology at Case Western Reserve University have successfully participated in the MFMU research network for over 20 years.
Dr. Gibson, who is also an Associate Professor of Reproductive Biology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and her team are excited to lead Cleveland’s collaboration with other major obstetric research institutions from across the nation in the next cycle of the MFMU network.
