Ronald Okun

Ronald Okun (born August 7, 1932) is an American physician and pharmacologist. He testified before the United States Congress three times on behalf of tobacco industry in the 1960s and 1970s, attempting to discredit the fact that smoking causes illness. He was also the co-editor of the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology from 1977–1989. For at least twenty years, he was the director of clinical pharmacology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Early life and education Ronald Okun was born in California on August 7, 1932 He had an older sister, Anna, and brother, Seymour. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for his bachelor's degree, graduating in 1954. He then attended the University of California, San Francisco for a master's degree in pharmacology and toxicology and Doctor of Medicine; he received both degrees in 1958.

Career Following the completion of his MD, Okun completed an internship and residency at a veterans' hospital in Los Angeles. This was followed by a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins University from 1961–1963. In 1963 he was appointed the director of clinical pharmacology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as well as an assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology at UCLA. saying, in part, that he could not find "persuasive evidence that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer". From 1973–1976, Okun was one of four physicians in California responsible for nearly all pharmaceutical testing on prisoners in the state, along with J. Alfred Rider, William L. Epstein, and Howard Maibach.

He remained the head of Cedars-Sinai pharmacology department and a professor at UCLA until at least 1984. Along with Robert George, he was the co-editor of the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology from 1977–1989.

Selected publications Some of Okun's most-cited publications include:

Awards and honors In 1973, he was the president of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology; He was also made a fellow of the American College of Physicians in 1972.

Personal life He was married to Katherine G. Okun, with whom he had three children.