“If not us, then who?” That question has driven D. Wade Clapp, MD, on a relentless mission to improve children’s health for over four decades.
Since joining the Indiana University School of Medicine as one of its first researchers in the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research in 1991, and later becoming chair of the Department of Pediatrics in 2009, Clapp has focused on growing IU’s expertise in all areas of pediatrics while conducting his own groundbreaking research in neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body.
It would be hard to overstate the impact he has made on the lives of affected families — or his impact to the IU School of Medicine as a mentor to scores of budding physician scientists. Clapp will soon step down as department chair but will remain a leader at the medical school in his role as senior associate dean for entrepreneurial research and commercialization — leading the school’s efforts to accelerate scientific discoveries and translate them into real-world treatments and cures.
Clapp, an IU Distinguished Professor, recruited every division chief in pediatrics, along with most of the program leaders at the Wells Center, significantly growing the medical school’s expertise in pediatric diseases. Today, the Department of Pediatrics is a national leader in research, ranking sixth for NIH-funded research among all U.S. medical schools.
“Dr. Clapp’s leadership has shaped the department into one of national prominence, and his impact as a physician, scientist and mentor has left a lasting mark on our school and on countless children and families across Indiana and beyond,” said IU School of Medicine Dean Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA.
Under Clapp’s leadership, the department broadened its educational mission, adding five integrated residency programs and 13 new fellowships in pediatric specialties including allergy, critical care, endocrinology, rehabilitation medicine and more.
As co-founder of the Medical Scientist Training Program, Clapp’s legacy at IU extends to the many physician scientists he’s mentored who now have their own faculty labs and federally funded research.
It all translates into better health for Indiana children.
An internationally recognized innovator
An exemplar of innovation, Clapp is currently working with industry partners on several initiatives related to neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1, including a partnership with British biotech firm Healx to develop a better treatment for this rare disease affecting one in 2,500 people worldwide; it can cause cognitive issues, heart conditions, vision loss, pain and sometimes cancer.
This month, Clapp is being honored by the Indianapolis Business Journal as recipient of the Innovations in Health Care award. Previously, Clapp received the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s Friedrich von Recklinghausen Award, recognizing the national and international impact of his work in neurofibromatosis, and Clapp was elected into the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in health and medicine.
“He’s such a darn good scientist,” said Jaishri Blakeley, MD, director of The Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Center and a longtime colleague and collaborator in NF research. “He provides the details, explanations and all the scientific context that is so incredibly rich and valuable — everything that’s needed to make a decision before you invest in a clinical trial.”
Courtney Roberts, president and CEO of Riley Children’s Foundation, said Clapp’s work has transformed a devastating diagnosis into a “story of hope.”
“Few Hoosiers have had such a profound and lasting impact on pediatric medicine and the lives of children and families,” Roberts wrote in a nomination letter for the IBJ award.
Clapp collaborates with colleagues worldwide and helped lead the research underpinning the first FDA-approved therapy to shrink NF1 plexiform tumors, greatly improving quality of life for children who previously had no treatment options. This places him “among the most impactful medical innovators of our time,” wrote Mara Nitu, MD, chief medical officer at Riley Children’s Health.
“His work demonstrates what innovation in health care should be: life-changing, deeply compassionate, and grounded in scientific excellence.”
A mentor for medical scientists
Over the years, Clapp’s significant contributions to the field served as a magnet for other talented faculty to come to IU. His dedicated mentorship and support are what keeps them energized.
“He believed in me before I believed in myself,” said Laura Haneline, MD, the Edwin L. Gresham Professor of Pediatrics and division chief of neonatal-perinatal medicine.
She met Clapp 35 years ago as a pediatrics resident, became his first fellow in the lab, and has had her research as a stem cell biologist continuously funded by the NIH since 1999.
“Wade has been very supportive and committed to my success from day one of our time working together, whether that be in the NICU or in the lab,” Haneline said. “He saw talents in me that I didn’t see in myself, and he helped me realize my potential as a clinician and a researcher.”
Coming to IU School of Medicine more than two decades behind Haneline, Steven Rhodes, MD, PhD, echoes that experience.
“Wade is the kind of mentor who changes the trajectory of people’s lives,” he said. “As a trainee, I always had the sense that he believed in my potential even before I fully recognized it in myself.”
A graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program that Clapp co-founded with Maureen Harrington, PhD, in 2008, Rhodes is now an assistant professor of pediatrics and continues to collaborate with his mentor on several NF1-related projects.
“I remember sitting with Wade in his office where he showed me MRI images from one of the first patients with a plexiform neurofibroma treated with a targeted therapy — the ‘before’ image with the large, life-threating tumor involving the airway, and the ‘after’ image showing that tumor melting away,” Rhodes recalled. “Seeing how benchtop science could so dramatically change a child’s life was a pivotal moment for me. It not only solidified my desire to become a physician-scientist but also made it clear that I wanted to train in his lab and ultimately join the faculty at IU School of Medicine to help move this work forward.”
Dana Mitchell, MD, was a medical student working in Clapp’s lab when she experienced a mystery illness. With Clapp’s support, she developed a novel treatment plan that cured her disease.
“When I became sick with autoimmune encephalitis as a rising fourth-year medical student, Dr. Clapp quickly became my biggest supporter and advocate, ensuring that I was able to graduate from IU School of Medicine and develop a successful career path of my choosing,” Mitchell said. “As a result, I can confidently say that I owe Dr. Clapp my entire career.”
Today, Mitchell is an assistant professor of pediatrics and continues working alongside Clapp to identify novel therapeutic strategies, biomarkers and diagnostics for neurofibromatosis. Clapp encourages intellectual curiosity and creates an environment where young investigators feel safe taking risks, she said.
“This environment attracts the most brilliant and creative scientific minds — individuals who are driven by solving problems not yet recognized or those no one has dared to tackle,” Mitchell said. “This mentorship model doesn't just produce successful individual scientists — it cultivates a culture of innovation that elevates entire research programs and institutions, inspiring the next generation to think ambitiously and pursue research that fundamentally changes how we understand and treat disease.”
A legacy of compassion, collaboration and discovery
Steve Angus, PhD, began collaborating with Clapp 10 years ago while training at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill and soon joined Clapp at IU. At that time, clinical care for neurofibromatosis patients had been stagnant for 30 years. That all changed when a small group of researchers led by Clapp began to identify, validate and advocate for new drugs to advance to clinical trials. Today there are two FDA-approved drugs to shrink tumors in NF1, and another drug recently succeeded in a clinical trial for treating NF2-related schwannomatosis, which affects hearing, vision and balance.
Those successes are worthy of celebration, but Angus continually hears Clapp’s voice urging, “Why stop there? What more can we do?” Because of his mentor, Angus is ever mindful of the need to be resilient and relentless.
“He will always be on my Mount Rushmore of influential and impactful leaders, colleagues and friends,” said Angus.
Rhodes similarly carries Clapp’s words continually in his consciousness, asking, “If not us, then who?”
“In pediatrics, many of the diseases we care about are rare and have historically been overlooked by industry because there isn’t an obvious financial incentive to develop drugs for them. Wade has been clear that our responsibility as pediatric physician scientists is to stand in that gap.”
Collaboration, integrity and compassion have been the fuel behind Clapp’s impactful science.
“It is rare to find someone who is simultaneously a world-class scientist, a visionary leader and an extraordinarily kind human being,” said Rhodes. “When I think about his impact, I think not only of the papers, grants and clinical trials, but also of the countless patients whose lives have been touched by the therapies he helped bring to the clinic, and the many trainees and junior faculty whose careers he has shaped. To be even a small part of that story of his legacy at IU and in the neurofibromatosis community is one of the great privileges of my career.”
Clapp’s personal legacy includes three sons and three grandchildren. Steve Clapp, MD, is an IU School of Medicine graduate just finishing a fellowship in adult nephrology at Vanderbilt University who will soon join the faculty at IU School of Medicine—Bloomington. Another son is an attorney, and the third is a NinjaZone coach pursuing a career in physical therapy.
Clapp’s wife, Nancy Swigonski, MD, a pediatric health services researcher, is now an emeritus professor enjoying retirement. Clapp has no plans to follow suit. There’s too much yet to be done.
When asked about his personal definition of success, Clapp laughed — he’s never satisfied.
“Maybe,” he said after a contemplative pause, “success is building structures that will transcend my time as leader.”
And by that definition, no one would argue Wade Clapp has been abundantly successful.
