We are pleased to announce the addition of Atul Chopra, MD, PhD, to our team at the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development.

Dr. Chopra serves as Investigator, Harrington Discovery Institute, and holds faculty appointments in the UH departments of Medicine and Genetics. He is also Associate Director of the Harrington Rare Disease Program, which seeks to advance breakthrough research into novel treatments for rare diseases. In the U.S., rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people and very often has no meaningful treatment.

Dr. Chopra's studies in patients with an uncommon metabolic disorder led to the discovery of a new hormone that controls appetite and body weight. His laboratory is leveraging this exciting insight to develop new therapeutics that will help combat obesity and certain forms of diabetes. 

Dr. Chopra joins UH from Baylor College of Medicine, where he was the Caroline Wiess Law Scholar and Assistant Professor in the departments of Molecular and Human Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology. He also was an attending physician at Texas Children’s Hospital.

He completed his MD degree at MIMER Medical College in India in 2003, and earned his PhD in molecular and cellular biology and completed his residency in medical genetics at Baylor.

Dr. Chopra is a young physician-scientist of great promise, having already made important discoveries in the field of genetics. With his help, we look forward to expanding our program here and abroad so that we can support discoveries with the greatest potential for impact in the fight against rare diseases. 

Jonathan S. Stamler, MD
President, Harrington Discovery Institute
Director, Institute for Transformative Molecular Medicine
University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Mukesh K. Jain, MD, FAHA
Chief Scientific Officer, Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals
Chief Scientific Officer, University Hospitals