In 1953, Sutherland moved to Cleveland, Ohio for a position as a professor of pharmacology and chairman of the department of pharmacology at the school of medicine at Case Western Reserve University (formerly, Western Reserve University). There, he collaborated with Theodore W. Rall, also a professor of pharmacology, who was to become a lifelong research partner. Together, they conducted further research on the mechanism of hormone action at the molecular level. During his ten years at Case Western Reserve University, Sutherland made several ground-breaking discoveries that led to the identification of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, or cyclic AMP, and its role as a secondary messenger.