Robert A. Harrington, MD

Dr. Robert A. Harrington is a cardiologist and serves as the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University. His research areas of focus include evaluating antithrombotic therapies to treat acute ischemic heart disease and to minimize the acute complications of percutaneous coronary procedures and trying to better understand and improve upon the methodology of clinical research, including the use of technologies to facilitate the conduct of clinical trials.

Dr. Harrington was the Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University for more than 10 years. He previously served as the Richard Stack Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute at Duke University, where he completed his fellowship in general and interventional cardiology.

A native of Somerville, Massachusetts, and a first-generation college graduate, Dr. Harrington graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He went on to earn his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and served as chief resident during his residency in internal medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.

Passionate about sharing information about health and medicine, Dr. Harrington has written more than 760 peer-reviewed manuscripts, reviews, book chapters, and editorials. He served as senior editor for the 13th and 14th editions of Hurst’s The Heart — one of the leading textbooks of cardiovascular medicine. He is also active on Twitter, and hosts a podcast for practitioners called “The Bob Harrington Show.”

A previous American Heart Association (AHA) president, Dr. Harrington remains a member of AHA’s Board of Directors. He is also an elected member of the Association of American Physicians, the Association of University Cardiologists, and the National Academy of Medicine / Institute of Medicine. In addition, he has served as a chair and member of the US Food and Drug Administration Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee.

Among his numerous awards and recognition, Dr. Harrington was named a Master of the American College of Cardiology in 2016, was awarded the AHA’s Clinical Research Prize in 2017, and earned the AHA Council on Clinical Cardiology (CLCD) Distinguished Achievement Award in 2022. In 2022, he was awarded the Stokes Medal, and in 2023, Honorary Fellowship in the Irish Cardiac Society.