She earned a BS and MS in bacteriology, and a Ph.D in immunology, at the University of California at Berkeley.
[1][2] She founded the department of immunology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1983,[3] and served as the cancer center's executive vice president and chief academic officer until her retirement in 2007.
[3] From 1993 to 1994, Kripke served as president of the American Association for Cancer Research.
[5] The panel's 2006-2007 report, Promoting Healthy Lifestyles,[6] urged "that the influence of the tobacco industry – particularly on America’s children – be weakened through strict Federal regulation of tobacco product sales and marketing".
[11] From 2012 through 2016, she was the chief scientific officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.