Lawrence Schook is an international scholar of comparative genomics who has developed the Oncopig Cancer Model, a biomedical cancer model to help medical professionals better understand and treat the disease. The Oncopig Cancer Model (OCM) is a next-generation large animal platform used to study hematology and solid tumor oncology. Prior to the development of OCM, Schook led the global pig genome-sequencing project. The pig genome was published in the journal Nature as the cover story in Nov. 2012. This sequencing endeavor also led to the development of various research reagents including the Illumina 60K SNP chip now available for the entire community. Using genomics to construct physiologically relevant porcine models of cancer will have profound effects on the development of cancer interventions and imaging technologies.
Schook attended Albion College and received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Wayne State School of Medicine. After postdoctoral training at the Institute for Clinical Immunology in Switzerland and the University of Michigan, he has held faculty positions at the Medical College of Virginia, University of Minnesota, and a visiting Professor at the Ludwig Cancer Center of the University of Lausanne. Shook previously served as the Vice President for Research at the University of Illinois, as founding Director, UIUC Division of Biomedical Sciences, and the founding IGB Theme Leader for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering. School is currently Illinois’ Edward William and Jane Marr Gutsgell Professor of Animal Sciences and Radiology.