Philip W. Majerus, MD, who first proposed that low-dose
aspirin could be used to treat people at risk of heart attack, stroke,
and other ailments associated with blood clots, has been awarded the
Eighth Annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement
in Cardiovascular Metabolic Research. His
proposal that low-dose aspirin could protect those at risk of clot
formation is credited with saving thousands of lives a year.
But that is not his only achievement. Dr Majerus' research into the
role played by platelets in blood clotting and thrombosis is
considered groundbreaking.
Dr Majerus, a professor of medicine and biochemistry and molecular
biophysics at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis,
Mo, received the acclaim of his colleagues at the time of the award.
"Phil Majerus, more than any other individual, has produced the most
original body of work on biochemistry of platelets as it relates to
thrombosis," said Joseph L. Goldstein, MD, professor of genetics at
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr
Goldstein is a Nobel laureate.
"Philip Majerus made some of the earliest breakthroughs in preventive
cardiovascular treatment and set the stage for many
more," said Hubert Pouleur, MD, vice president of
cardiovascular research and development at
Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr Majerus received a $50 000 award and a silver
medallion at a dinner in New York on May 13, 1998.
Dr Majerus' work delineated the role of platelets in the clotting
process. Until the results of his research became known, scientists
thought that
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Philip W. Majerus, MD: Bristol-Myers Squibb Award