Zainab Hassan Albar, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Abdus Sattar, PhD
Dissertation: Impact of Subclinical Parental and Child Behavioral Problems on Limbic System Development: MRI Insight
PhD conferred 08/16/2024
Asma Almijlad, BDS, DMD, Cert. Perio, MSD, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: James Spilsbury, PhD
Dissertation: Lifestyle Risk Assessment Score for Periodontal Disease (LRASPD)
PhD conferred 2025
Currently: Assistant Professor and Periodontist at Qassim University
Hussam Mohammed Alqahtani, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisors: Siran Koroukian, PhD and James Spilsbury, PhD
Dissertation: Investigating the Association Between Complex Multimorbidity and Periodontal Disease: An Analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Currently: Assistant Professor of Periodontics and Clinical Data Science Researcher, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
Caroline Elizabeth El Sanadi, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Vanessa Phillis Ho, MD, PhD, MPH, FACS
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Siran Koroukian, PhD
Dissertation: Worse than Death? The Older Patient and Long-Term Outcomes after Emergency General Surgery
Currently: Associate Professor, the MetroHealth System, and Assistant Professor (Secondary Faculty), Departments of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)
Olivia Marie Hogue, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Dissertation: Statistical Practice in Preclinical Neurosciences: Implications for Successful Translation of Research Evidence from Animals to Humans
Currently: Assistant Staff, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Cleveland Clinic
Benjamin Patrick Kramer, PhD
Program: Clinical and Translational Science
Advisor: Johnie Rose, MD, PhD
Dissertation: The Impact of Proteoglycans on Ascending Aortic Dissection Mechanics
PhD conferred 08/16/2024
Currently: Resident Physician - Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cleveland Clinic
Uriel Kim, PhD, MBA
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Kim's dissertation looked at the impact of the Affordable Care Act on cancer outcomes in individuals from low-income communities.
Currently: Resident Physician, Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Carli Jessica Lehr, MD, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Dissertation: Updating Risk Predictions for Lung Transplant Candidates Bridged with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Using Novel National Data
Currently: Staff pulmonologist at the Respiratory Institute and assistant professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, specializing in transplant medicine.
Morgan K. McGrath, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Sciences
Advisor: Jill Barnholtz Sloan, PhD
Currently: Completing the MD portion of the combined degree Medical Scientist Training Program here at CWRU.
Stephanie Merlino Barr, PhD, MS, RD, LD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Sharon Groh-Wargo, PhD
Dissertation: Examining the Relationship of Malnutrition in Preterm Infants to Critical Clinical Outcomes
PhD conferred 08/16/2024
Currently: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Research Director at MetroHealth
Laurie Ann Moennich, PhD, MPH, CPH
Advisor: Susannah Rose, PhD
Dissertation: Acceptance and Use of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: A System Dynamics Approach
PhD conferred May 2024
Ryan Nazemian, MD, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science, CRSP Program
Advisor: Johnie Rose, MD, PhD
Dissertation: Monitoring Nitric Oxide Bioactivitiy, Tissue Oxygenation and Blood Flow in Neurologically-Diseased (DNC) Organ Donors
Currently: Anesthesiologist, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
Sarah Diane Ronis, MD, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Kurt Stange, MD
Dissertation: Engagement for Impact in Social Risk Screening and Intervention
Currently: Director of the University Hospitals Rainbow Center for Child Health & Policy and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Jacqueline K. Shaia
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Mary Dolansky, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dissertation: Visual Outcomes in Adults, Fulminant, and Pediatric Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension
PhD conferred 05/16/2025
Sandra Y Silva Camargo
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Johnie Rose, MD, PhD
Dissertation: Assessment of Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes of Clostridioides difficile Infection with the NAP1/BI/027 Strain in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
PhD conferred 05/16/2025
Karlo Toljan, MD, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Research Advisor: Daniel Ontaneda, MD, PhD
Chair: Jin Kim-Mozeleski, PhD
Dissertation:
PhD conferred August 2025
Wayne Mark Tsuang, MD, PhD, MHS
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Johnie Rose, MD, PhD
Dissertation: Towards Translational Geospatial Medicine in Lung Transplantation
Currently: Staff physician in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Associate Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Joe Georges Zein, PhD
PhD conferred 05/17/2020
Guangjin Zhou, PhD
Program: Clinical Translational Science
Advisor: Siran Koroukian, PhD
Dissertation: Health-Related Social Needs and Cancer Burden in Persons Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus
PhD conferred May 2024