Drug development is a complicated task; scientists must create a drug that binds to its target protein, thus preventing it from performing its function. The problem with this strategy is that eventually the drug falls off the protein, which then frees the protein to work again. Therefore, a patient must take lot of the drug so there are enough drug molecules present to ensure that if one drug falls off the protein, another is available to take its place. The challenge of achieving high enough dose levels to block the function of a protein has resulted in the inability to drug specific diseases. Dr. Craig Crews, of Yale University, is developing a new paradigm for drug development. He and his team's novel approach relies upon drugs that can trick the cell's own quality control mechanisms to remove a target protein completely. Coined the "seek and destroy" strategy by Dr. Crews, this new approach can be applied to diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Due to the fact that many rogue, disease-causing proteins can not easily be blocked using a small molecule drug approach, Dr. Crews' technique will allow scientists to drug the "undruggable."

 A day in Dr. Crews' lab will reveal the incredible team of chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, biochemists, medical students, and undergraduates all working together. Such a multidisciplinary team creates a dynamic and exciting environment where many new ideas flow from different perspectives. Despite the breadth of talent within his own lab, Dr. Crews still collaborates with other labs as well. In addition to the range of disciplines within the lab, it is also a very international team hailing from Mexico, Peru, Austria, Germany, Korea, USA, Senegal, Nigeria, and Uruguay. Such a holistic team ensures that the concept of bench-to-bedside is realized within Dr. Crews' lab. The lab's success in developing an anti-cancer drug that is already FDA approved is evidence of the way in which such research is highly relevant to basic science while working towards applications that are truly important to patients and their families.

Current research includes:

• Carfilzomib (Kyprolis TM): Dr. Crews' FDA-approved drug for relapsed multiple myeloma, Carfilzomib  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carfilzomib), is a successful model of a drug that engages the cells' quality control mechanisms to kill tumor cells.

• Arvinas: Dr Crews is the Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Arvinas, a new pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapeutics to treat a variety of diseases including cancer, pro-inflammatory, autoimmune, and rare diseases. This company is based upon Dr. Crews' efforts to drug the undruggable. 

• Academic Training: Dr. Crews believes that training future researchers is a necessary tenet of being a part of the scientific community. As the Director of the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, he helps to push towards translational medicine alongside other scientists.