Craig M. Crews, recently appointed as the John C. Malone Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, is a renowned scientist who has made important contributions to the field of cancer research.
Crews has focused on ways to control protein levels within cells, research that has led to the creation of two successful biotechnology companies. In 2003, he co-founded Proteolix, which developed the proteasome inhibitor Kyprolis® that has been approved for treatment of multiple myeloma. The company was sold in 2009 to Onyx Pharmaceuticals. The Yale scientist then developed a new way to target specific disease-causing proteins within cells; that research formed the basis of the New Haven biotechnology company Arvinas, Inc.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, Crews earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard University. Following postdoctoral research at Harvard, he joined the Yale faculty in 1995 as an assistant professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. He serves as director of the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, and holds secondary appointments as a professor of chemistry and of pharmacology.
The Yale professor’s research has been supported by grants from state and federal agencies, as well as private foundations and corporations, including the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the Gates Foundation. He is the author or co-author of more than 140 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, and served as editor of Cell Chemical Biology for a decade.
Crews has been recognized for his research with numerous awards and honors, including the Ehrlich Award for Medicinal Chemistry, the Yale Cancer Center Translational Research Prize, and the Khorana Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2019, he was named an American Cancer Society Professor.
The Malone professorship is one of 10 that were established through the generosity of John C. Malone ’63E. The Yale alumnus is renowned for his pioneering role in communications media and his philanthropy towards education.