Dr Robin Cook Biography
Doctor and author Robin Cook is widely credited with introducing the word
"medical" to the thriller genre, and thirty years after the publication of his
breakthrough novel, Coma, he continues to dominate the category he created. Cook
has successfully combined medical fact with fantasy to produce a succession of New York
Times bestsellers, including Outbreak (1987), Mindbend (1988), Mutation
(1989), Harmful Intent (1990), Vital Signs (1991), Blindsight (1992),
Terminal (1993), Fatal Cure (1994), Acceptable Risk (1995), Contagion
(1996), Chromosome 6 (1997) and Toxin (1998) and many others.
In each of his novels, Robin Cook strives to write about the issues at the forefront of
current medical practice. To date, he has explored issues such as organ donation, genetic
engineering, fertility treatment, in vitro fertilization, research funding, managed care,
drug research, and organ transplantation. In VECTOR, Cook explores an issue
seemingly ripped from today's headlines -- bioterrorism.
Cook says he chose to write thrillers because the form gives him "an opportunity to
get the public interested in things about medicine they didn't seem to know about. I
believe my books are actually teaching people."
Coma was made into a successful feature film, and Cook's novels have also been made
into television productions. In December 1993, CBS-TV aired "Robin Cook's Harmful
Intent"; in November 1994, NBC-TV aired "Robin Cook's Mortal Fear"; in May
1995, NBC-TV aired "Robin Cook's Virus," based on Outbreak; and in
February 1996 NBC-TV aired "Robin Cook's Terminal." In addition to 1997's
"Robin Cook's Invasion," NBC-TV has two other Cook novels in production.
Robin Cook was born on May 4, 1940, in New York, New York. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University, the Columbia University Medical School and finished his
postgraduate medical training at Harvard. He is currently on leave from the Massachusetts
Eye and Ear Infirmary. He divides his time between homes in Boston and Florida where he lives with his wife, Jean, and their son.
This biography was last updated on 03/14/2009.
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