Patients often arrive at a clinical appointment with questions that extend far beyond their immediate symptoms. They ask about the air quality in their neighborhood, the proximity of their homes to industrial sites, or how their daily commute might be exacerbating a chronic condition. For many providers, answering these questions requires data and specialized tools that are not typically available in a standard exam room.
To bridge this gap, the Cleveland Clinic has launched the Center for Environment, Place and Health Research (CEPHR). Established following a Mandel Accelerator Grant awarded in late 2024, the center is designed to facilitate integrating environmental health research into patient care by providing clinicians with the resources needed to understand how community and geographical factors influence health outcomes.
The initiative transforms the way caregivers approach diagnosis and treatment by treating the patient’s environment as a critical component of their medical history. By providing statistical support, mentorship, and advanced mapping software, CEPHR allows researchers and clinicians to move from theoretical observations to actionable clinical interventions.
Addressing the Clinical Knowledge Gap
The impetus for the center was not a theoretical research goal, but rather the direct inquiries of patients. Wayne Tsuang, MD, PhD, a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic and Director of CEPHR, notes that the center was created to address a specific void in the institution’s ability to provide environmental context to medical care.
“CEPHR is here because of our patients,” Dr. Tsuang said. “We started the center because patients ask really good questions about how the environment impacts their health. We realized that there was a gap here at Cleveland Clinic, both in terms of our ability to answer patients’ questions and answer research questions from other caregivers.”
By leveraging faculty expertise, the center supports emerging researchers who are studying the social determinants of health—the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, and age. The goal is to ensure that findings regarding neighborhood health are not just published in journals but are quickly applied to improve the quality of care delivered to the patient.
Translating Geospatial Data into Patient Resources
A cornerstone of the center’s utility is its focus on geospatial mapping. While traditional research often identifies a correlation between a location and a disease, CEPHR takes a translational approach, using data to help patients navigate the healthcare system and reduce their risk of exposure.
Maeve MacMurdo, MD, MBChB, MPH, Director of the Occupational Lung Disease Clinic and co-Director of CEPHR, explains that the center aims to provide practical solutions for both providers and patients. “We want CEPHR to function as both a research center and to help patients and providers with real clinical questions,” she said. As a practical example, she cited the creation of interactive maps that help providers identify the pulmonary rehabilitation location closest to their patients, effectively reducing barriers to care.
The mapping software is designed to be flexible and scalable across the entire Cleveland Clinic enterprise. According to Dr. MacMurdo, the possibilities for this technology are vast: “The sky is the limit when it comes to mapping. We could map out, for example, where the factories or the bus stops are around Cleveland Clinic. We can help a provider think about how to map out their own patient location data, where patients are coming from and how they’re getting to them.”
This capability allows clinicians to analyze travel times and identify specific geographical barriers that may prevent a patient from adhering to a treatment plan. While the center can generate environmental maps for any location globally, the focus remains on making these large data sets manageable and relevant for the individual patient.
Expanding Beyond Pulmonary Health
Given that both Dr. Tsuang and Dr. MacMurdo are pulmonologists, there is a natural focus on lung health and asthma. However, the center is explicitly designed to be a multidisciplinary hub. The leadership emphasizes that environmental exposures do not stop at the lungs; they affect every organ system in the body.
To foster this broad application, CEPHR has provided pilot awards to caregivers across various specialties. Current projects include research into trauma, culture and healthcare utilization, and access to vascular surgery. This shift ensures that the center serves as a resource for the entire medical staff, regardless of their specialty.
“The goal with CEPHR is to think about the health impacts of exposure beyond the lungs—we know that environmental and place-based exposures impact every organ,” Dr. MacMurdo said.
A Collaborative Framework for Clinicians
For clinicians interested in utilizing these resources, the center has established a streamlined entry point. The process is managed by project manager Maggie Urban-Waala, MPH, who coordinates consultations to determine whether a researcher needs simple mapping software, direct statistical support, or long-term mentorship.
The center avoids a rigid, one-size-fits-all model, instead tailoring its involvement to the specific needs of the caregiver. This may range from a brief helping hand during a research project to a full one-year collaboration for the center’s first class of awardees.
This collaborative model is rooted in the belief that while policy changes and healthcare guidelines take time to evolve, individual patient care can be improved immediately. By identifying exactly what a patient is exposed to and where they spend their time, clinicians can work with patients to reduce those risks in real-time.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
As CEPHR continues to roll out its user-friendly mapping software and expand its cohort of pilot awardees, the center will focus on refining its data sets to better identify the strengths and resources within the communities where patients live. Future updates will likely include broader integration of these tools across the Cleveland Clinic’s various regional sites to further reduce barriers to care.
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