Newswise — CLEVELAND, OhioHarrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, today announced the 2022 class of Harrington Scholar-Innovators. The scholar awards will support a diverse set of drug discovery projects including new treatments for pulmonary diseases, COVID-19, multiple cancers, corneal disease, hepatitis, and acquired spinal cord injuries.

Harrington Discovery Institute—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development—was established in 2012 to accelerate the development of new treatments to address major unmet needs in medicine and society. Harrington Scholar-Innovators are accomplished physician-scientists whose research demonstrates innovation, creativity and potential for clinical impact. In addition to grant funding, Harrington provides guidance and oversight in drug development, while intellectual property is retained by the scholar and their institution.

“The 2022 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,” said Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, President, Harrington Discovery Institute, Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Innovation and Professor of Medicine and of Biochemistry at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University.

The selected scholars have access to several rounds of capital and have the opportunity to qualify for up to a total of $1,100,000 in funding. In addition, scholars have facilitated access to Harrington’s mission-aligned commercial entities, Advent-Harrington Impact Fund and BioMotiv, and to its charitable partner Morgan Stanley GIFT Cures.

Since its founding, Harrington Discovery Institute has supported 162 drugs-in-the-making, 64 institutions, 31 new company launches, 17 clinical candidates and 12 licenses to pharma.

The 2022 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award recipients, their organizations and fields of research are:  

Burton Dickey, MD – University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Targeting Syt2 to Prevent Mucus Secretion [in asthma and COPD]

Diana Farmer, MD – University of California, Davis
Engineered Human Stem Cells to treat Spinal Cord Injury

James Hagood, MD – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Thy-1 Mimicry as a Therapeutic Strategy for Pulmonary Fibrosis

Li Lan, MD, PhD – Massachusetts General Hospital
Targeting mRNA Methyltransferase in Cancer

Carolyn Lee, MD, PhD – Stanford University
Drugging Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Michael Lin, MD, PhD – Stanford University
Protease Inhibitors for COVID-19 and Future Coronavirus Diseases

Francis McCormack, MD – University of Cincinnati
An Improved Method of Pleurodesis

David Myung, MD, PhD – Stanford University
Regenerative Therapy for the Cornea

Bernd Schnabl, MD – University of California, San Diego
Bacteriophage Therapy to Treat Alcoholic Hepatitis

Loren Walensky, MD, PhD – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Treating Resistant Cancer with Stapled Peptide PROTACs

Hans-Guido Wendel, MD – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Blocking MYC Protein Production in Cancer

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About Harrington Discovery Institute
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. Harrington Discovery 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’. For more information, visit: HarringtonDiscovery.org.

About University Hospitals/Cleveland, Ohio
Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 23 hospitals (including 5 joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship quaternary care, academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Oxford University and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. The main campus also includes the UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH 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, with more than 3,000 active clinical trials and research studies underway. 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 19 Clinical Care Delivery and Research Institutes. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with more than 30,000 employees. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.