Yale University scientist and entrepreneur Craig M. Crews has been named the inaugural recipient of the Yale Founders Award.
The award, presented Wednesday afternoon by Yale President Maurie McInnes during the first day of the 2026 Yale Innovation Summit hosted by Yale Ventures, is intended to honor innovators whose work has had a significant impact on science, medicine and entrepreneurship.
Crews is the John C. Malone Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale and has spent decades researching new ways to treat disease. He is widely credited with pioneering the field of targeted protein degradation, a drug-development approach that uses the body’s own cellular machinery to eliminate harmful proteins linked to diseases such as cancer.
According to Yale Ventures, the technology has helped create an entirely new class of medicines — Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras, or PROTACs.
That led to the formation of several biotechnology companies, including New Haven-based Arvinas. The company has developed cancer therapies based on the protein-degradation platform discovered in Crews’ lab.
Crews joined Yale’s faculty in 1995 and has become one of the university’s most prominent scientific entrepreneurs. In addition to his academic roles, he serves as executive director of the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery.
During her presentation of the honor, McInnis praised Crews for his work.
“It isn’t an exaggeration at all to say he is among the most influential chemists and entrepreneurs in modern medicine,” she said.
Yale Ventures said the award recognizes faculty founders whose work reflects Yale’s mission of translating research into broader societal benefits.
