The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research is excited to announce the establishment of a new esteemed award for early career clinical investigators in honor of Robert Marcus, M.D.

This new Esteemed Award will be given in recognition of meritorious clinical research in the bone, mineral and musculoskeletal field.  It will recognize annually an ASBMR member conducting clinical research who has completed their professional degree, residency training or equivalent (whichever is later) within the past 15 years. The Award will include a $2,000 honorarium, travel reimbursement of up to $1,000 and a plaque which will be presented after a morning plenary session at the ASBMR 2023 Annual Meeting.

We are crowd-funding this award, and thus seeking your help to raise $125,000 so that the newly established award can be named in perpetuity beginning in 2023. All donations are 100% tax deductible, as ASBMR is a registered non-profit 501C3 organization, Tax ID# 43-1123207.

A luminary in the Bone, Mineral and Musculoskeletal field, Robert Marcus, M.D. has published over 30 manuscripts in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, and has presented numerous abstracts at the ASBMR Annual Meetings. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the bone and mineral field, focusing on clinical research.

While at Stanford University, Dr. Marcus led seminal studies on the effect of hormone therapy on bone density (i.e., the PEPI trial, published in JAMA in 1996), the effects of exercise and resistance training on bone health, effects of recombinant human growth hormone on bone and body composition, and the contribution of testosterone to skeletal development by examining Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.

Dr. Marcus joined Eli Lilly as Senior Medical Director, leading the launch of Forteo and authoring several manuscripts on the effects of teriparatide on the bone density, microarchitecture and fracture risk. Importantly he was senior author on the head-to-head comparison of alendronate and teriparatide for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (NEJM, 2007). Moreover, he authored over 40 reviews and book chapters, and was the first Editor of “Osteoporosis” (aka “Big Red”) — without a doubt, the definitive book on osteoporosis, first published in 1996 with the 5th edition recently published. Countless graduate students and fellows have used this text as an introduction and guide to the field.

In addition to these exemplary contributions to scholarship in the field of bone and mineral research, Dr. Marcus has served the ASBMR in many notable ways, including: 1) ASBMR Council (1995-98); 2) ASBMR President-Elect, President, Past-President: (2000-2002); 3) Publications Committee member (1986-1995); 4) Chair, Publications Committee (1995-1999); 5) JBMR® Editorial Board member, 3 rotations 1995-2014; 6) Science Policy Committee member (2006-8); 7) JBMR® manuscript reviewer, forever and 8) ASBMR Annual Meeting abstract reviewer (1978-2000). Importantly, in addition to serving as ASBMR President, in his term as Publications Chair, he oversaw the successful transition to self-publishing under the editorship of Marc Drezner. This was a crucial step for the society and for the JBMR®. Bob has continued as Emeritus member, still attending the ASBMR meetings and serving as a JBMR® reviewer. We can think of no better way to honor his contributions, and look forward to your support.