Research News

Dr. Megan Jack examines tissue samples to learn about nerve regeneration in her musculoskeletal research lab.

Operating with a team (including plastic surgeons) is common for Dr. Jack (on the right, in the forefront of the photo).

Dr. Rachel Scheraga, in the middle, works closely with her Inflammation & Immunity lab team, including Susamma Abraham (behind Dr. Scheraga) and Erica Orsini (on right).

Dr. Scheraga works with internal medicine residents W. Hunter Scott (standing in the back) and Nandini Isaac (seated) in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine to discuss patient cases and care.

Dr. Scott Cameron cares for patients in Vascular Medicine, which is part of the Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute.

Dr. Cameron, on the right, studies platelets with his lab team (including Edelyn Park, on the left) in Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences.

At the heart of any clinician’s reason to pursue medicine is a single refrain: to help people. Adding a focus on research extends that reach beyond patient encounters toward the patients of the future. This dual lens defines the career of a clinician-researcher.

The logistics of that career include two offices, constant walking, long hours and multiple lists and calendars. But the three individuals in this story agree that the work is absolutely worth it.

Read on for a glimpse into the lives of three clinician-researchers, who balance direct patient care with running a lab in Cleveland Clinic Research:

• Megan Jack, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon whose lab is connected to the Musculoskeletal Research Center.
• Rachel Scheraga, MD, a staff physician in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Integrated Hospital Care Institute, who also runs a lab in the Inflammation & Immunity Department.
• Scott Cameron, MD, PhD, section head of Vascular Medicine and lab leader in Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences.

‘There’s more we can do to improve.’

Dr. Jack is all set to work on an upcoming grant proposal on one of her designated “research days” in the week—until she gets a call from a thoracic surgeon who needs help with an emergency nerve repair (Dr. Jack’s specialty). She heads straight to scrub in for the OR; the grant will have to wait.

While working in two labs as an undergraduate, Dr. Jack saw firsthand the variations that exist in science. She knew she wanted to make research part of her career, so she pursued an MD/PhD program.

Now, as a surgeon and in her research, she focuses on peripheral nerve injuries. She’s passionate about how her work could help her field advance—from new techniques in surgery to better understanding injuries by studying models in the lab.

“I can get to answers that change my patients’ lives in the operating room, but I also know there is more out there we can do to improve,” Dr. Jack says. “The roles of surgeon and researcher are interconnected and can spark different things—but both require creative thinking to arrive at solutions.”

In her basic science lab, she and her team members apply immunohistochemistry (a lab technique that helps researchers see proteins, receptors and chemicals in nerve tissues) to study nerve injuries and regeneration. This knowledge helps her think through new surgical techniques. For example, she and other surgeons are exploring techniques to prevent the formation of neuromas, which are ball-like scars of nerves that can be very painful for some patients who have gone through amputations.

“Even though the balance can be demanding, maintaining patient work and research provides an outlet to shift gears,” Dr. Jack says. “Seeing things in research and wondering how I could use them in the clinical realm, and facing situations in the clinic that I want to find answers for, keeps neurosurgery fun for me.”

‘I saw that my mentors were successful.’

Although Dr. Scheraga always had an interest in science, it wasn’t until medical school that she encountered mentors (both MDs) who showed her it was possible to do research as a physician.

“My mentors were coming up with novel therapeutics, which demonstrated that there were ways to improve treatment in my field of pulmonary and critical care,” Dr. Scheraga says.

She observed a renewed interest in research during the COVID-19 pandemic (when she was working in the ICU and serving on a committee that vetted contributors’ potential treatment ideas). However, she is more concerned now because the number of physician-researchers is declining.

In her own work, she believes that her immersion in research helps her give patients more robust explanations, and raises her awareness of clinical trials and new drugs. It also allows her to be a mentor to other early-career physicians and scientists, demonstrating to them what her mentors did for her.

With the support of a grant from the American Thoracic Society, she and a fellow at Cleveland Clinic will be working to uncover the factors contributing to the declining numbers of physician-scientists. She hopes that what they discover may lead to change.

“This is an exciting time to be in research, and we need even more people who can apply similar skills when seeing patients and analyzing data,” she says. “We just need to find the right ways to show young scientists and medical students it’s possible.”

‘My patients become my greatest teachers.’

There isn’t really a “predictable” day for Dr. Cameron, who balances patient responsibilities with research oversight constantly. On a recent Friday at 9:30 a.m., he saw a patient experiencing an abdominal aortic dissection and scheduled that patient for surgery. By 10:00 a.m., he was presenting his lab’s current research to other members of his department. That research overview included abdominal aortic dissections.

Dr. Cameron pursued a career in research and obtained his PhD first, and then went to medical school. When he came to Cleveland Clinic, he wanted to focus on patients with rare diseases who often felt misunderstood.

“My patients inform me how my research needs to go, and we identify the missing information and unanswered questions,” Dr. Cameron says. “I begin there and design my research around what is still unknown—a process I call ‘reverse translation.’”

Like other clinician-researchers, Dr. Cameron’s days include work in buildings on both sides of Carnegie Avenue at Main Campus. As he travels between buildings and roles, he brings ideas and theories with him—constantly thinking, reading, testing and wondering.

“I truly love working with patients in my clinical role and incorporating my lab’s research into that landscape,” Dr. Cameron says. “The mentoring I get to do in the lab, though, is what gives me the most motivation. I can pass on to my team members what I was taught, as well as what my patients teach me."