Silvia Perez Protto, MD, MS, MBA
Critical Care AnesthesiologyAnesthesiology
Highlights
Age Groups Seen
- Adult
Languages
- Spanish
- English
Gender
FemaleAbout Silvia Perez Protto
Title
Medical director, End of Life Center
Biography
Silvia Perez-Protto, MD, MS, MBA is a staff member at the Intensive Care and Resuscitation Department at the Cleveland Clinic, and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic Learner College of Medicine. She is the medical director of the End of Life Center at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Perez-Protto earned her medical degree, post-graduate intensive care medicine and organ donation specialist degrees from Universidad de la República, Montevideo-Uruguay.
She worked as an intensivist and transplant coordinator, conducting more than 100 organ donation interviews before relocating to the US in 2006. She was a Fundación Carolina scholar in 2005 at the Transplant Services Foundation, Clinic Hospital Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. She earned the ECFMG certificate and completed her post-graduate training including anesthesiology residency and critical care fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Perez-Protto served as the president of the Ohio Chapter of the Society of Critical Care Medicine from 2018-2020 and was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine in 2021.
Dr. Perez-Protto has published multiple research articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as having contributed abstracts and presentations at several professional association meetings. She served on the Cleveland Clinic Bioethics Committee for 5 years and as teaching faculty at the Center for Excellence in Healthcare Communication for 4 years. She led the opening of the Intensive Care Unit at the Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital and served as the medical director until 2023. She served as the president of the Women Professional Staff Association 2023-2025.
As the medical director of the End of Life Center, Dr. Perez-Protto has designed and implemented the Advance Care Planning program at the Cleveland Clinic, with the aim of delivering goal-concordant care. She has co-led the implementation of “The Pause” to honor the person who dies at the hospital and the care provided by the healthcare team. She has co-created "The Pause" App and Death over Dinner for Healthcare to foster caregiver resilience related to end of life care.
Dr. Perez-Protto has designed and co-implemented an innovative program providing critical care services to Lifebanc Organ Procurement Organization, to optimize the detection and management of organ donors from 2024 to 2025.
Education & Board Certifications
Education
- Graduate School: Baldwin Wallace University, 2022
- Graduate School: Drexel University, 2017
- Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic, 2014
- Residency: Cleveland Clinic, 2013
- Residency: Cleveland Clinic, 2009
- Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic, 2008
- Residency: Hospital de Clinicas, 2001
- Medical Education: Universidad de la Republica Montevideo Facultad de Medicina, 1997
Board Certifications
- Anesthesiology: American Board of Anesthesiology, 2014
- Critical Care Medicine: American Board of Anesthesiology, 2014
Additional Training
- Master of Science - Drexel University
- Master of Business Administration - Baldwin Wallace University
Innovations & Patents
Research & Publications
See publications for this provider. (Disclaimer: This search is powered by PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed is a third-party website with no affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.)
Industry Relationships
Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists collaborate with industry to advance medical breakthroughs. These partnerships help commercialize discoveries for public benefit while maintaining scientific integrity. To ensure transparency and minimize potential bias, Cleveland Clinic reviews these relationships and publicly discloses when physicians/scientists receive significant compensation for consulting, serve in fiduciary roles, receive royalties, or hold equity interests related to their work. We manage potential conflicts through approval processes, annual reporting, and targeted management plans.
As of 2026-04-01, Dr. Perez Protto has reported no financial relationship with industry that is applicable to this listing.
In general, patients should feel free to contact their doctor about any of the relationships and how the relationships are overseen by Cleveland Clinic. To learn more about Cleveland Clinic's policies on collaborations with industry and innovation management, go to our Integrity in Innovation page.
Public Health Service-Reportable Financial Conflicts of Interest. Cleveland Clinic scientists and physicians engage in basic, translational and clinical research activities, working to solve health problems, enhance patient care and improve quality of life for patients. Interactions with industry are essential to bringing the researchers' discoveries to the public, but can present the potential for conflicts of interest related to their research activities. Click here to view a listing of instances where Cleveland Clinic has identified a Public Health Service (PHS)-Reportable Financial Conflict of Interest and has put measures in place to ensure that, to the extent possible, the design, conduct and reporting of the research is free from bias.
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