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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Russell M. Medford, certify that:

         1.       I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of
AtheroGenics, Inc.;

         2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

         4.       The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
and have:

         (a)      Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
    such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
    supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
    registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
    us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
    which this report is being prepared;

         (b)      [Reserved]

         (c)      Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
    controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
    about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
    of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
    evaluation; and

         (d)      Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
    internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
    registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal
    quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected,
    or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
    control over financial reporting; and

         5.       The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):

         (a)      All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
    design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
    are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
    record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

         (b)      Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
    or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
    internal control over financial reporting.

Date: March 15, 2004

                                           /s/RUSSELL M. MEDFORD
                                           ------------------------------------
                                           Russell M. Medford
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer