Harrington Discovery Institute Announces 2026 Scholar-Innovator Award Recipients

CLEVELAND, Ohio, May 12, 2026. Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals announced the 2026 class of Harrington Scholar-Innovators. The awards support new treatments for cardiovascular, inflammatory, hematologic, and oncologic diseases using small molecule, biologic, cell-based, and genetic therapies. The institute was established in 2012 to accelerate development of new treatments for unmet needs in medicine. Since its founding, Harrington has supported 227 drugs in the making, 75 institutions, 47 company launches, 24 clinical candidates, and 15 licenses to pharma. Recipients receive grant funding and drug and business development guidance as well as the opportunity to compete for acceleration funds up to 300000 dollars and mission related investment funds typically up to 2 million dollars. Scholars have access to Harrington mission aligned commercial vehicles and its charitable partner Morgan Stanley GIFT Cures. Jonathan S. Stamler, president and co founder of the institute, said the scholars are working on urgent challenges in medicine. The objective is to provide expertise and resources to translate discoveries into clinical impact. Seth J. Field, chief scientific officer, said the work shows the creativity required to change the course of disease. Many advances might otherwise stall at the discovery stage. The 2026 recipients are Jodie Babitt, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Behnam Badie, MD, of City of Hope, Senthil Velan Bhoopalan, MD, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Elliot Chaikof, MD, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, of University of Pittsburgh, Steven Chan, MD, PhD, of University Health Network, Timothy Hla, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD, of Columbia University, Steven Marx, MD, of Columbia University, and Markus Muschen, MD, PhD, of Yale University. Harrington Discovery Institute is now accepting full proposals for the 2027 Scholar Innovator Award. The deadline is June 22, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. More information is available at HarringtonDiscovery.org/Scholar-Innovators.