January 30, 2012: Robert A. Harrington, MD, has been appointed as the new Chair of the Department of Medicine. He will join Stanford in July 2012. Dr. Harrington is currently Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), a position he has held since 2006. He is the Richard S. Stack MD Distinguished Professor at Duke University School of Medicine, where he is also a practicing cardiologist.

The selection of Robert Harrington as Stanford Chair of Medicine is the result of a search committee led by Dr. Steve Galli, Mary Hewitt Lovelace Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology. The Committee began its work in the fall of 2010 and spent hundreds of hours of efforts reviewing the status and needs of the Department of Medicine as well as the ideal characteristics of the future chair. Potential candidates were determined from consultation with leaders at Stanford and across the nation. The work of the Search Committee was wonderfully facilitated and enabled by the dedicated efforts of Ms. Kendra Baldwin along with her colleagues from the Office of Institutional Planning.

"On August 31, 2011 the Search Committee provided me with a list of finalists from a short list of eight candidates who visited Stanford from June – August 2011. I then further consulted with numerous national leaders as well as faculty and leaders in the Department of Medicine and at Stanford Medical Center and University, including the Provost, President, Trustees, Hospital CEOs, and Board of Directors among others. I also visited the home institution of finalists and discussed the candidates with institutional and national leaders. Based on a complex register of assessments, recommendations and opinions along with a convergence of skills and opportunities, I am very pleased we have been successful in convincing Dr. Harrington that he and his family will flourish at Stanford, " said Dean Pizzo.

Harrington’s breadth of knowledge, his area of research, commitment to patient care and clinical excellence, and his leadership roles at Duke and nationally make him an ideal choice for this position. The DCRI is the largest such clinical research enterprise in the world – hosting over 200 faculty and over 1100 staff and encompassing nearly every medical discipline. The annual operating budget of the DCRI is over $150 million, 40% coming from grants and contracts. The spectrum of clinical research in the DCRI extends from Phase 1-4 clinical trials – including programs in health services research.

The DCRI also hosts research fellowship training programs for both MD and PhD students and fellows. There is no question that DCRI is a unique entity and, while we have no intention or expectation of replicating such a program at Stanford, the underlying knowledge and skills are important to our unique version of “Translating Discoveries.” Further, Dr. Harrington’s knowledge and prominence in population science and quantitative medicine converge remarkably with Stanford’s burgeoning efforts in this evolving area of medicine, science and healthcare.

Robert. Harrington was born in Massachusetts and received a BA, magna cum laude, in English from the College of the Holy Cross. He then attended Dartmouth Medical School and received his MD from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1986. After training in Internal Medicine at the University of Massachusetts, where he was Chief Resident, he did a fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at Duke University Medical Center. He joined the Duke faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1995 and was promoted to Professor in 2003. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology and has been elected Fellow and held numerous leadership positions in the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association and other national and international organizations.

He has also served as an advisor and consultant to the NIH and FDA. Dr. Harrington was elected to the Association of American Physicians in 2011. His own research interests have focused on antithrombotic therapy for acute ischemic heart disease, the disease mechanism of acute coronary syndromes, clinical trial design and numerous other topics. Dr. Harrington is the author or co-author of over 350 scientific publications and reviews, and has served on numerous editorial boards and scientific advisory boards.

Harrington is frequently described as a natural and energetic leader who is able to bring diverse groups of individuals together to achieve shared goals and objectives. He has been invited to lead important initiatives at Duke and nationally and is deeply committed to the future of academic medicine. Training future leaders and excellence in clinical care remain at the core of his mission, and he devotes part of every week to the practice of clinical cardiology – something he also intends to do at Stanford.

Accompanying Harrington to Stanford will be his spouse Rhonda Larsen, who holds BS, PA and MHS degrees from Duke and who is Consultant for Clinical Research and Training at DCRI as well as Founder of Site Research Solutions. Bob Harrington and Rhonda Larsen have four daughters, and they have deep roots in North Carolina. While moving west to California is a major undertaking, both Rhonda and Bob are excited about the possibilities that stand before them – and we share that excitement and enthusiasm as well.