Harrington Discovery Institute Announces 2022 Grant Funding to 11 Physician-Scientists

More than 150 drug discovery projects now supported by Harrington Discovery Institute

CLEVELAND, April 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Harrington 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

SOURCE Harrington Discovery Institute