Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals increases support of national award

CLEVELAND, March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Harrington Discovery Institute (HDI) at University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland, Ohio – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development – has opened its annual award competition to fund and support physician-scientist innovators at major academic medical centers across the nation in their efforts to advance promising drug discoveries.

The HDI opens an annual competition each spring to identify the nation's most promising medical breakthroughs and to help bridge the gap between basic discovery and clinical introduction.

This year the Harrington Discovery Institute will select up to 12 researchers to receive Harrington Scholar-Innovator awards of up to $700,000 over two years ($100,000 guaranteed and additional funding according to the needs of specific projects). In addition, these Scholar-Innovators will be given access to the Harrington Discovery Institute's Innovation Support Center that includes senior industry experts who are charged with helping oversee drug development. Successful initiatives will thus have access to both research and drug development funding as well as the knowhow to transition discovery into the commercial realm.  

"We are in our third year now and getting indications that the bridge we have built across the  'Valley of Death'— i.e. from lab bench to commercial realm— entailing a very novel design, is actually working," said Jonathan Stamler, MD, HDI Director.  "This is gratifying."

The competition is open to physician-scientists at accredited academic medical centers, research institutions and universities in the United States. Selection criteria include innovation, creativity and potential for impact on human health. Applicants must have a doctorate in medicine and demonstrate exceptional promise. Award recipients will be selected by the Harrington Discovery Institute's Scientific Advisory Board and announced in December 2015.

The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio - part of an international initiative unveiled in February 2012 called The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development - is a nonprofit medical institute dedicated to inventive physician-scientists, enabling them to turn their discoveries into medicines that improve human health. This past year the Harrington Discovery Institute has developed partnerships with the University of Oxford and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

"Our goal to create a network of the best and brightest physician-scientist inventors has sharpened," said Dr. Stamler, who is also Director of the Institute for Transformative Molecular Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. "We are experiencing strong growth and seeing success, which is why we have decided to invest even more in our Scholar-Innovators."

For more information about the Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award, please visit HarringtonDiscovery.org/grant

SOURCE Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals

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