Dr Robin Cook biography

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 and the Columbia University Medical School. Cook was drafted into the US Navy and finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard. He is 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 and son. Cook's awards include the 2002 "Author of Vision" presented by the RP International organization and a 2004 appointment by President George W. Bush to the Woodrow Wilson Board of Trustees.

Dr Robin Cook's website

This bio was last updated on 08/14/2017. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.