Onders, Raymond, MD

Dr. Raymond Onders is Professor of Surgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He is honored with the Walter and Margaret Remen Chair of Surgical Innovation.

Over the last 25 years, he has focused his research efforts on ways to help people breathe naturally using their own diaphragm. He has authored multiple publications and book chapters on the primary muscle of breathing –- the diaphragm. He has trained surgeons around the world on the technique of diaphragm pacing to allow patients freedom from tracheostomy mechanical ventilation.

Diaphragm pacing, electrical stimulation of the diaphragm muscle, is a technology aimed at either replacing or delaying the need for mechanical ventilation or maintaining and improving normal breathing. One of his first research subjects was the late Christopher Reeve (Superman). Diaphragm pacing technology was recognized as one of the most important medical innovations at the 6th Medical Innovation Summit in 2008. Dr. Onders’ advancements in the technology of pacing the diaphragm have led to multiple patents. He co-founded the medical device company Synapse Biomedical which helped to bring this technology to patients.

Dr. Onders has given invited lectures around the world and presented his research at numerous scientific meetings. He has helped spread this knowledge training surgeons to do the diaphragm pacing operation in over 35 countries which has helped countless patients worldwide. His present research focuses on using diaphragm pacing to shorten the time to wean from a ventilator on all intensive care unit patients which is one of the largest health care expenditures in the United States. With the possibility of a shortage of ventilators early in the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked and obtained emergency use authorization by the FDA of the new temporary pacing system in April of 2020. This has led to multiple new applications of the use of temporary diaphragm pacing wires to decrease ventilator times significantly in high risk cardiac patients and lung transplant patients.

He earned his M.D. at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in 1988, and in 2010 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award, its highest honor, for his work in advancing medicine. Dr. Onders joined the University Hospitals staff in 1997, following his service with the military where he was a Major in the United States Air Force. He is active in many medical and surgical organizations and has been President of Midwest Surgical Association and Cleveland Surgical along with being on the Board of several large surgical organizations. He was inducted as a fellow in the American Spinal Injury Association in 2019. Among his multiple other honors, include the Maurice Saltzman Award presented on behalf of the Mount Sinai Health Care Foundation, Crain’s Cleveland Business 2008 Health Care Heroes for Advancements in Health, the Rescuer of Humanity Award presented by Values in Action Foundation, and the ALS Association’s Bob Feller Legacy Award in 2013 for his work with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Dr. Onders is an expert on providing therapies for patients with diaphragmatic abnormalities from spinal cord injured patients who cannot breathe to patients with unilateral diaphragm problems from injured phrenic nerves from cardiac surgery, lung transplant and even the effects on the diaphragm from COVID-19. This technology he helped develop has also been used in numerous pediatric applications.