UAMS’ Peter Crooks, Ph.D., D.Sc. Named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
| April 18, 2017 | Peter Crooks, Ph.D., D.Sc., chair and professor of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy, recently was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Being named a Fellow recognizes NAI members who have, according to the academy, “demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”
Crooks previously studied at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, where he earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. He joined UAMS in 2011 to chair the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Before coming to UAMS, he held a joint faculty appointment at the University of Kentucky in the Graduate Center for Toxicology and the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. In 2011, the Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) named him an ARA Scholar which included a $500,000 grant to support his research.
Founded in 2010 and now with more than 3,000 individual inventor members, the NAI recognizes and encourages inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhances the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourages the disclosure of intellectual property, educates and mentors innovative students, and translates the inventions of its members to benefit society.
Crooks holds more than 76 U.S. patents with 68 pending, including about 30 involving his UAMS work. He also has 115 filings for foreign patents. A Crooks innovation – a breakthrough gel for the treatment of a form of lymphoma branded as Valchlor® in the United States and Ledaga® in Europe – won FDA approval in 2013.