December 10, 2018

Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals Announces 2019 Grant Funding to 10 Physician-Scientists

More than 100 drug discovery projects now supported by Harrington Discovery Institute

December 10, 2018, Cleveland, Ohio – The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, today announced the 2019 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award recipients. The projects supported by the awards include new therapeutics to treat metabolic disorders, autoimmune disorders and cancer, and new approaches to eradicate parasitic diseases in developing countries.

The Harrington Discovery Institute—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development—is designed to translate science of great promise into therapeutics that can impact human health. Award recipients whose research demonstrates innovation, creativity and the potential to impact standards of care in medicine are selected from institutions across the U.S. In addition to financial support, the Harrington Discovery Institute provides expertise and oversight in all aspects of drug development.

“Every year we see novel and creative approaches for treating major unmet medical needs. This year was no exception. The 2019 Scholar-Innovator class represents an exciting portfolio of drugs-in-the-making with potential to significantly improve human health. We are honored to support these extraordinary physician-scientists,” Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, President of the Harrington Discovery Institute.

The selected scholars have access to several rounds of capital (up to a total of $700,000) through their affiliation with the Harrington Discovery Institute to support the transition of their work into the private sector. Scholars are then free to approach investors of their choice to support the commercialization of their work. They also have facilitated access to BioMotiv, the mission-aligned development company that is part of The Harrington Project.

“Our new class of scholars was selected from a large pool of highly qualified individuals from across the U.S. With this year’s class, we have supported over 100 Harrington Scholars,” said Mukesh K. Jain, MD, Chief Scientific Officer of the Harrington Discovery Institute.

The 2019 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award recipients are:

Robert Anderson, MD, PhD – University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Treating systemic diseases with very long fatty acids

Rosa Bacchetta, MD – Stanford University
Genetically modified T cells to treat autoimmune disorders

Gerald Dorn, MD – Washington University School of Medicine
Targeting mitochondria to treat Charcot Marie Tooth and other neurodegenerative disorders

Joachim Herz, MD – University of Texas Southwestern
Targeting chronic inflammatory diseases

Paul Hruz, MD, PhD – Washington University School of Medicine
Novel treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Peng Ji, MD, PhD – Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Identification of new therapeutics for blood cancers

V. Vinod Mootha, MD – University of Texas Southwestern
Precision medicine for age-associated vision loss

Dawn Wetzel, MD, PhD – University of Texas Southwestern
Developing novel, broad-based antiparasitics

T.C. Wu, MD, PhD – The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Augmenting universal immunity to combat cancer

Ellen Yeh, MD, PhD – Stanford University
Novel therapeutics to treat malaria

Harrington Discovery Institute
The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development—aims to advance medicine and society by enabling our nation’s most inventive scientists to turn their discoveries into medicines that improve human health. The institute was created in 2012 with a $50 million founding gift from the Harrington family and instantiates the commitment they share with University Hospitals to a Vision for a ‘Better World’.

The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development
The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development (The Harrington Project), founded in 2012 by the Harrington Family and University Hospitals of Cleveland, is a $300 million national initiative built to bridge the translational valley of death. It includes the Harrington Discovery Institute and BioMotiv, a for-profit, mission-aligned drug development company that accelerates early discovery into pharma pipelines.

University Hospitals
Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of over 1 million patients per year through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices in 15 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located on a 35-acre campus in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, dermatology, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is the second largest employer in northern Ohio with 26,000 employees. For more information, go to UHhospitals.org.