Dr. Crooke is the founder and former chief executive officer of Ionis Pharmaceuticals. In 2020, Dr. Crooke assumed the executive chairman role at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, continuing to lead research into the molecular mechanisms of antisense oligonucleotides and lead n-Lorem, a charitable foundation he has founded to create and supply antisense oligonucleotide medicines for patients with ultra-rare diseases. During his tenure at Ionis, he has led the scientific development of a new platform for drug discovery, antisense technology and engineered the creation of one of the largest and more advanced development pipelines in the biotechnology industry. Early in Dr. Crooke’s career, he led the creation of the first broad anticancer program in the industry at Bristol-Myers, bringing numerous anticancer drugs to the market in the first five years of his career. He then assumed responsibility for worldwide R&D at SmithKline Beckman. Dr. Crooke has received a number of awards, most recently, the American Chemical Society’s E.B. Hershberg Award for Important Discoveries in Medicinally Active Substances, the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society, the Scrip Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2019 Massry Prize. Dr. Crooke received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees and house staff training at Baylor College of Medicine and has been an active scientist throughout his career. He has published more than 500 scientific publications, edited more than 20 books, has numerous patents, and led the development of more than 23 drugs that have been commercialized.