Dr. Stanley T. Crooke '66
Robert Todd Duncan Alumni Achievement Award, 1999
Dr. Cooke is founder, chairman and chief executive officer of
Isis Pharmaceuticals. Isis is a development stage
biopharmaceutical company that focuses on a new paradigm in drug
discovery, antisense oligonucleotides. Since Dr. Crooke and
his colleagues founded Isis in 1989, the company has grown rapidly,
completing its initial public offering in May 1991. The
company reports broad progress in antisense technology and its
rapid conversion to therapeutic product opportunities. Isis
was the first company to commercialize an antisense drug and has
achieved a number of important corporate collaborative
relationships.
Dr. Crooke is a member of the board of directors of SIBIA
(LaJolla, Calif.), GeneMedicine, Inc. (Houston, Texas), EPIX
Medical, Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and Idun Pharmaceuticals (LaJolla,
Calif.). He is a member of the IBC Advisory Council, Current Drugs
Advisory Board, the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Drug
Targeting and Antisense Research and Development and the Editorial
Board of Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology. He has been appointed
by the American Association for Cancer Research to serve as a
member of the California State Legislative Committee.
Before founding Isis, Dr. Crooke was president of research and
development for SmithKline Beckman Corporation (SKB) where he
directed the activities of nearly 3,000 scientists, physicians and
support staff for the SmithKline & French Laboratories, the
pharmaceutical arm of SKB.
Prior to joining SKB, Dr. Crooke helped establish the anticancer
drug discovery and development program at Bristol Myers, which
succeeded in bringing to market a significant number of drugs. At
Bristol, he established numerous licensing and collaborating
agreements and developed the Bristol-Baylor Laboratory.
During his illustrious career, Dr. Crooke has supervised the
development of 17 drugs currently on the market and others in
development. In addition to his involvement in the pharmaceutical
industry, Dr. Crooke also maintains active academic positions. He
is an adjunct professor at the University of California-San Diego
and San Diego State University. He has won numerous teaching awards
and has authored over 400 publications and edited 18 books. He is
active in molecular and cellular biology and pharmacology of
antisense oligonucleotides.
Dr. Crooke received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Butler
in 1966. He went on to do post-graduate and doctoral work at Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, earning a Ph.D. in 1971 and
an M.D. in 1974. He has served on the Partnership for Excellent
Alumni Campaign National Honorary Committee as well as the College
of Pharmacy Board of Visitors for Butler.
Updated 1999