"Dr. Crook is an outstanding academic physician who has a strong record of achievement in medical education, research and clinical care," said Dr. Robert A. Kreisberg, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the USA College of Medicine. "Dr. Crook has grown up in our region and has a clear vision of the vital role the University of South Alabama plays in training physicians, conducting research and providing specialized care to this community," he added.
Prior to his appointment with the USA College of Medicine, Crook served as associate professor and interim chair of internal medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. WSU School of Medicine, with more than 1,000 medical students, is recognized as the largest single-campus medical school in the nation.
In addition to his faculty position, Crook served as the chief of internal medicine at Harper University Hospital and at the Detroit Medical Center - both affiliated with WSU School of Medicine. Crook was also a member of the Harper University Hospital Board of Trustees.
Prior to joining the faculty at WSU, Crook was a faculty member at the University of Mississippi Medical Center from 1994 to 2001 and associate chief of staff for research at the Jackson VA Medical Center in Jackson, Miss.
Born in Monroeville, Ala., Crook received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He completed his internship and residency training in internal medicine and a fellowship in nephrology at the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, Ala.
Crook has been successful in a wide range of medical and scientific endeavors. In 2003, he received the Faculty Research Excellence Award from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He has published more than 105 scientific manuscripts and abstracts. His clinical and research interests focus on renal disease, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Crook is on several scientific journal editorial boards. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Investigative Medicine and an associate editor of the American Journal of Medical Sciences, also serving as co-editor of the journal's ethics section. From 1997 to 2001, he served as associate editor of Endocrinology, published by the Endocrine Society.
He is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Nephrology, the Endocrine Society, the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation and the International Society of Hypertension in Blacks. Crook currently serves as president of the American Federation of Medical Research.
