CLEVELAND - Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine announces the appointment of the inaugural holder of The Richard B. Fratianne Professorship in Surgery – Christopher P. Brandt, MD of The MetroHealth System. The new professorship is named in honor of Dr. Fratianne, the founder of the MetroHealth Burn Unit and a national leader in the care of patients with severe burns. Both Drs. Brandt and Fratianne are Case Western Reserve faculty and double alumni, and local medical leaders who trained and practiced in Northeast Ohio throughout their careers. Their influence extends from the region to the world-over through the patients, families, and surgeons they've healed and taught.
“Dr. Brandt has dedicated his career to the care of patients injured with severe burns. He is an excellent choice to serve as the inaugural Richard B. Fratianne Professor of Surgery,” says Alfred F. Connors, Jr., MD, professor of medicine at the School of Medicine, chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs, The MetroHealth System.
A burn and general surgery specialist, Dr. Brandt is a national leader in surgical education. He is a professor of surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and chair of MetroHealth’s Department of Surgery where he has served for more than 22 years. In addition, he serves as the associate director of the MetroHealth Comprehensive Burn Care Center.
“Dr. Brandt will use the support of this professorship to enhance research and education in care of burned and injured patients in our community and to attract and retain high-caliber burn and trauma surgeons to Cleveland. Equally important, the professorship honors Dr. Fratianne’s legacy of healing the bodies, minds, and spirits of patients suffering from burns and trauma,” adds Dr. Connors.
Dr. Fratianne is director emeritus of the Comprehensive Burn Care Center at MetroHealth and professor emeritus of surgery at the School of Medicine, but his legacy extends well beyond those borders. He founded MetroHealth’s nationally recognized burn center in 1970 and revolutionized burn treatment with a holistic approach. He is also founder of the hospital’s Level I Trauma Center and served as the first medical director of Metro Life Flight. In all, Dr. Fratianne has provided more than 40 years of compassionate care and leadership at MetroHealth. To learn more about Dr. Fratianne, visit http://donate.metrohealth.org/fratianne.
“Advances in research and education are made possible by the generosity and foresight of donors who understand the impact made by physicians of this caliber and the need to retain them in Northeast Ohio to benefit local patients. This professorship is a mark of great distinction for these physicians, as well as our institutions,” said Pamela B. Davis, MD, PhD, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs, Case Western Reserve University.
More than 75 donors made gifts to The MetroHealth Foundation in honor of this professorship. The largest gift to MetroHealth from the estate of Colonel Thomas C. McNeal helped reach the $1.5 million needed to establish the professorship at Case Western Reserve University.
Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Nine Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the School of Medicine.
Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 MD and MD/PhD students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to Graduate Education."
The School of Medicine is affiliated with University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. case.edu/medicine.