Ohio Northern University announced that it has received a $1 million gift commitment from 2000 alumnus Dr. Michael Craig Cox, PharmD, MHSc, BCOP.
A cancer researcher and small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor developer, Cox has made the gift to support students, faculty, research initiatives, and science-related programming. The Dr. Michael Craig Cox Endowed Fund for Careers in the Sciences will represent the first alumni-established fund of its kind at ONU.
The learning-focused gift is designed to foster interest in science and research by providing direct support to students interested in pursuing careers in the health sciences. Eligible students will include those in the Doctor of Pharmacy program, the new Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Science program, and other health-science degree programs within other ONU colleges.
“We hope to provide, through the fund, new and enhanced experiences for students and the faculty to foster the collaborative health care research experiences one would find at an NIH R1-funded research institute and make them better with the unique community that makes Ohio Northern different,” Cox says. The fund will also help students identify and pursue their professional and service-focused dreams, as he did at Ohio Northern, Cox notes.
The gift is structured for a wide array of uses. For instance, financial assistance may be offered to students who would like to conduct research during the summer term, for clinical rotation travel and housing expenses, for additional and customized collaborative research opportunities between faculty and staff, and for expanded health care outreach to the area’s rural population through the Raabe College of Pharmacy’s HealthWise Mobile Clinic. Funding will also encourage students to pursue careers in oncology and oncology research, which aligns with Cox’s professional interests and success in the field of pediatric oncology.
Cox is a native of Mars, Pennsylvania. While earning his PharmD, his interest in oncology secured him clinical experiences at institutions such as the National Cancer Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and San Diego Hospice. After graduation, he completed a PGY1 residency at Mission Health in Asheville, North Carolina, a PGY2-Oncology Specialty at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute–University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and he completed a drug development/clinical pharmacology fellowship specializing in medical breast oncology at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Cox became a board-certified oncology pharmacist before moving to the private sector. He has worked on oncology pharmaceutical research teams at Amgen, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Loxo Oncology and Day One Biopharmaceuticals. He has developed and commercialized small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors for patients with cancer; designed, developed and implemented clinical trials internationally; and has been responsible for medical oversight and regulatory strategy of drug trials internationally.
Cox was responsible for leading the adult phase 1 development and pediatric development of a new type of therapy for patients with cancer. Larotrectinib was the first molecule to be awarded a Breakthrough Therapy designation, Orphan Drug designation, as well as FDA and European approvals for a molecularly defined subset of patients with cancer, regardless of tumor type, or patient age.
In January 2020, Cox joined a startup oncology drug company called Day One Biopharmaceuticals, where he leads the company's pediatric clinical development program utilizing new therapies specifically for children with cancer.
