Research Highlights
VA New York Physician Wins International Award For Aspirin Research
Taken from the Veterans Health Administration Highlights dated April 19, 2002
Aaron J. Marcus, MD, a physician and researcher with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 1958, received the Aspirin Senior Award from Bayer in March 2002 for his research on the therapeutic use of aspirin.
Dr. Marcus, chief of hematology-oncology at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, was among the pioneers in the 1950s of research on blood platelets. He later focused on the effect of aspirin on blood cells, and laid the groundwork for the preventive use of aspirin in cardiovascular health. In 1995, his editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine on aspirin and colorectal cancer received wide publicity, as he was among the first scientists to recommend the preventive use of aspirin for patients at high risk for certain cancers.
The Aspirin Senior Award, along with the Young Researcher’s Aspirin Award, is given each year by Bayer to mark outstanding international achievements in aspirin research.
Dr. Marcus, a World War II Navy veteran, received VA’s prestigious William S. Middleton Award in 1987 for his research achievements on behalf of veterans. In 1998, he won the Glorney-Raisbeck Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Medicine from the New York Academy of Medicine.
In recent years, Dr. Marcus has been studying the effects of an enzyme called CD39, which has proved effective in treating heart attack and stroke in laboratory animals. He is now investigating the enzyme in combination with aspirin as a possible breakthrough treatment for heart disease in humans.
In addition to his VA role, Dr. Marcus is an attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and a professor of medicine at Cornell University.