Esteemed HIV Researcher Len Calabrese, DO, Joins KCU Board of Trustees

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU) is pleased to announce that Leonard Calabrese, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic, has joined the University's board of trustees. A 1975 graduate of KCU's College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Calabrese is world renowned for his work in rheumatology and immunodeficiency diseases, particularly HIV and Hepatitis-C.

Dr. Calabrese currently heads Cleveland Clinic's Section of Clinical Immunology and manages its Clinical Immunology Clinic. He is also a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, vice chair of the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases, and co-director of the Center for Vasculitis Care and Research. Dr. Calabrese has been a staff member in Cleveland Clinic's Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases since 1980. In 1983, Dr. Calabrese was among the very first researchers to explore the emerging disease known as AIDS.

"We are honored to welcome Dr. Calabrese to our board of trustees," said Marc B. Hahn, DO, president and CEO of KCU. "His international reputation, highly regarded research and clinical expertise, and dedication to leadership will be invaluable to advancing the strategic vision of our University, and we greatly look forward to his service."

"I am pleased and honored to assume this important position with KCU at such a pivotal time in the University's history," said Dr. Calabrese. " It's thrilling to have witnessed the impressive evolution of this institution — particularly in recent years — and I look forward to being a part of its continued success and growth."

Dr. Calabrese is the first and only physician to hold two endowed chairs at the Cleveland Clinic — the R.J. Fasenmeyer Chair of Clinical Immunology and the Theodore F. Classen, DO, Chair in Osteopathic Research and Education. He is a recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from KCU, the Phillips Medal of Public Service from the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the Bruce Hubbard Stewart Award for Humanitarianism.

Dr. Calabrese was recently awarded $18.5 million in new grants by the Richard J. Fasenmyer Foundation's "Gift of Time" to continue research collaboration in rheumatic, immunologic disorders and infectious disease. The award supports a joint effort with Michael Lederman, MD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Dr. Calabrese has lectured nationally and internationally on the subjects of HIV, immunology and rheumatology, and is the author of more than 350 published peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reviews.

About Kansas City University
The Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU), founded in 1916, is a private university with a College of Biosciences and a College of Osteopathic Medicine. The College of Osteopathic Medicine is the oldest medical school in Kansas City, Mo., the largest in the state and the 10^th-largest in the nation. It is also the second-largest producer of physicians for both the states of Missouri and Kansas, with 73 percent of graduates practicing in a primary care specialty throughout the Midwest.

KCU will open a second medical school in Joplin, Mo. in 2017 to help address the growing need for primary care physicians in the region's rural communities.

Contact: Lisa Cambridge
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SOURCE Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU)