Philip Majerus

Philip Warren Majerus (July 10, 1936 – June 8, 2016) was an American biochemist who confirmed the cardiovascular benefits of aspirin.

Majerus completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1958 and graduated from medical school at the Washington University School of Medicine in the early 1960s. After completing a residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and working briefly as a researcher for the National Heart Institute, he joined the Washington University School of Medicine faculty. Majerus said that the Vietnam War pushed him toward a career in research; after his residency, he had the choice between going to war as a physician or working for the government in his research position.

Majerus studied the role of platelets in the clotting process, and he proved that low-dose aspirin therapy could reduce the incidence of heart attack and stroke. In 1987, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Majerus retired in 2014 and he died of prostate cancer in 2016.