GAITHERSBURG, MD, September 05, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Gordon M. Cragg has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Now retired, Dr. Cragg is most noted in the chemistry field for having served as chief of the Natural Products Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) with the U.S. government from 1989 through 2004. He is a career chemist and internationally regarded researcher, well known for his skill in developing good political and diplomatic relations with countries such as Brazil, China, Madagascar, and Papua New Guinea. Dr. Cragg helped establish programs to discover potential anticancer agents from natural sources all around the world, and currently maintains these interests as a Special Volunteer with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, to Ernest Lynn and Doris Jessie Cragg, Dr. Cragg graduated from Rhodes University in South Africa with a BScHonors, going on to earn a D.Phil. from Oxford University, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He taught as a lecturer for some years in South Africa, and in 1972 took a year's sabbatical to work with Dr. G. R. Pettit at Arizona State University (ASU) searching for naturally-derived remedies for cancer. When Dr. Pettit later established the Cancer Research Institute at ASU, he invited Dr. Cragg to join his group as a senior research chemist, where he served from 1979 to 1984.
In 1985, Dr. Cragg joined the National Cancer Institute, where he transitioned from hands-on research to the challenges of acquiring natural resources for researchers pursuing drug discovery and development. Dr. Cragg has achieved much success in this endeavor, and credits his mentor Dr. Pettit of ASU, his education at Oxford University and UCLA, as well as colleagues at the NCI.
Dr. Cragg currently holds an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University, and has received four Merit Awards from the NIH. He played a role in the development of agents such as taxol, michellamine B, the calanolides, and conocurvone. He has also advanced research in bioactive natural product isolation, as well as international collaboration and sustainability in drug discovery and development. Dr. Cragg retains membership in the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Pharmacognosy, and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. He has co-authored numerous articles on natural product drug discovery and development, and has co-edited several books in the subject.
For dedication to international cooperation in the medical field, Dr. Cragg was selected for inclusion in numerous volumes of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and Who's Who in the East, as well as two volumes of Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare.
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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