Department of Medicine Welcomes New Chair
Robert Harrington, MD
The Department of Medicine welcomes Chair, Robert A. Harrington, MD, as the new Chair. Before coming to Stanford, Harrington was the 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 was also a practicing cardiologist.
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.
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.