As President of Academic & External Affairs and Chief Scientific Officer, Daniel Simon, MD leads the system’s strategy and performance across the spectrum of research including basic, translational, clinical and health services/outcomes. He also oversees UH’s graduate medical education and has primary responsibility for academic affiliations, including with Case Western Reserve University, Oxford University, NEOMED and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He is charged with elevating the system’s performance in medical education and discovery to the highest levels and driving strategic philanthropy. Additionally, Dr. Simon oversees the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals -- part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development and has executive leadership responsibility for the Office of Community Impact, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Daniel Simon, MD, is a practicing cardiologist and continues to play a leading role in national and international clinical trials investigating new devices and anti-thrombotic drugs. A recipient of numerous research awards, Dr. Simon was elected into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Association of University Cardiologists, and the Association of American Physicians. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed basic science and clinical journals.

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Dr. Spratt’s research expertise centers on the development and validation of prognostic and predictive biomarkers used to personalize treatment of cancer patients while avoiding over- and under-treatment. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including practice-changing work in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Lancet Oncology, JAMA Oncology and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Spratt has received federal funding from the NIH, Department of Defense, and numerous foundations for his research. He is the principal or co-principal investigator on over 10 institutional, national or multi-national clinical trials.

Dr. Brubaker is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Global Health and Diseases in the Department of Pathology and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at CWRU, and is also member of the Blood Heart Lung Immunology Research Center at CWRU and UH. The Brubaker Lab takes a cross-disciplinary approach to developing and deploying advanced computational methods to understand immune system dysregulation and microbiome interactions in complex inflammatory diseases, with a special emphasis in vaginal microbiome, endometriosis, infertility, and women’s health.

Dr. McVoy is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU). She is the Associate Training Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at University Hospitals. She is a researcher, educator and clinician with expertise in biomarkers, pediatric psychopharmacology and underserved pediatric populations. She has multiple peer-reviewed publications, is a 2020 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Scholar for her work on EEG and has a growing research program, in collaboration with colleagues on self-management and mind-body interventions for youth with chronic health and psychiatric conditions.

Dr. Villwock is a Professor of Otolaryngology, a fellowship trained rhinologist & anterior skull base surgeon and the Vice Chair for Research for the Department of Otolaryngology at University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH. She is passionate about accessible innovation to improve patient care. Examples of this include her research, which has led to the creation and patenting of AROMA (Affordable, Rapid, Olfactory Measurement Array). This is a novel objective olfactory test that is significantly more cost effective and designed for real-time integration into a clinical workflow. Using AROMA as a noninvasive biomarkers of dementia and cognitive decline is the focus of her NIH-funded work. She is leveraging a similar to sensory dysfunction to identify traumatic brain injury severity and recovery trajectory. She was selected as a finalist in the NIH National Institute on Aging's inaugural Health Aging Challenge and Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for her work with AROMA. Dr. Villwock subsequently won the Audience Choice Award at the 2023 Alzheimer's Association pitch competition and was a finalist at the AARP AgeTech Collaborative at ViVE2023 Making Aging Easier pitch competition.

Dr. Appleby is the Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Director and Medical Director of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) Foundation. He is a board member of the Cleveland Chapter Alzheimer's Association and Leader of the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s Clinical Core and Co-Leader of its Neuropathology Core. He is also site PI for several national dementia studies, including ALLFTD and the Alzheimer’s Neuroimaging Initiative.

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Dr. David Sheyn has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers focused on understanding and treating overactive bladder and urgency incontinence. His research applies artificial intelligence and precision medicine to improve patient outcomes, and he also studies surgical outcomes in pelvic floor surgery. He has received funding from NIH, PCORI, AHRQ, and other major research organizations.

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