Francis (“Frank”) Papay, M.D. (’84) has been elected a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow for lifetime achievements and leadership in innovation and scientific discovery. Dr. Papay is a professor of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, where he is a researcher. He will be inducted in April in a class of 175 fellows at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston during NAI’s annual conference.
Papay led the surgical team at the Cleveland Clinic that in November 2014 completed the second near- total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. The Cleveland Plain Dealer said at the time, ''This latest surgery is the first time that a face transplant recipient's eyesight has been preserved.''