NHLBI’s Wiestner Wins Scholar-Innovator Award

Dr. Adrian Wiestner

Dr. Adrian Wiestner, senior investigator in NHLBI’s Laboratory of Lymphoid Malignancies, is among winners of the 2018 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Awards. The awards support breakthrough discoveries in diverse research areas including cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and addiction.

Wiestner is an internationally recognized expert in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. His research team has developed experimental monoclonal antibodies that can be combined with an existing FDA-approved therapeutic antibody to deliver a “one-two punch” against cancer cells, including those that can escape killing by conventional monoclonal antibodies. His research is currently being explored in preclinical models with the hope of eventually moving the studies to human trials at the Clinical Center.

The scholar-innovator awards advance drug discoveries by providing access to financial support and critical expertise in accessing drug development resources. They are administered by the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland.