Aspirin Matters – Prof Carlo Patrono reflects on a distinguished career

Professor Patrono’s research has brought clinical benefit to many millions of people worldwide. In this interview with Pennie Taylor, health journalist, he reflects on a distinguished career; aspirin’s long legacy and its promising prospects. Reminding us that platelets are key, because that’s what aspirin does; its job at low doses is to selectively acetylate that single amino acid, of that single platelet protein, due to that simple chemical modification that Felix Hoffmann introduced 125 years ago.

Professor Patrono discusses the role of platelets and aspirin’s therapeutic role past, present and future. He also speaks about his pride in having been able to convince clinical investigators in the cardiology and neurology field to initiate clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of low dose aspirin.

Prof Patrono gave a State-of-the-Art lecture at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) congress 2021. Click here to access this key paper.

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Pierre Amarenco

Name

Pierre Amarenco, MD, FAHA, FAAN

Academic Affiliations:

Professor of Neurology at Paris-Diderot Sorbonne University
Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Stroke Center; Bichat University Hospital
Co-Director INSERM Unit-698 “Clinical Research in Atherothrombosis”

Discipline:

Neurology and Vascular Neurology

Scientific Interests:

Understanding and preventing stroke and vascular diseases
Clinical trials in prevention of vascular diseases
Carotid intima-media thickness studies
Lipid trials: prevention and therapeutic –protective- evaluation

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

N/A

Daniel José Piñeiro

ASSOCIATE

Name

Daniel José Piñeiro

Academic Affiliations:

Full Professor of Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Trustee, Board of Trustees, American College of Cardiology

Professional Setting:

My academic experience includes more than 40 years as a practicing medical doctor, teacher, and researcher. I have fulfilled these appointments in settings of vital social engagement and impact, most notably at the Hospital de Clínicas “José de San Martín” of the Universidad de Buenos Aires, a public hospital with high academic recognition. Additionally, I currently hold the position of Full Professor of Medicine at that same University.

Academic Activities:

International Meetings Participations: 180
Books-Editor: 1
Books Chapters: 39
Refereed Full Articles: 118 (listed in Pubmed: 29)
Refereed Abstracts: 221
Editorial Boards: 10

Profesional Associations:

2005 President, Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología.
2011-2013 President, Inter-American Society of Cardiology.
2011-2013 Member (ex-officio), Board of Directors, World Heart Federation
2017-2018 Member (at large), Board of Directors, World Heart Federation
2018-2021 Trustee, Board of Trustees, American College of Cardiology

John Chia

Name

John Chia MBBS (Spore), MRCP (UK), FAMS (Spore)

Academic Affiliations:

Adjunct Associate Professor DUKE-NUS Graduate Medical School,
Consultant Oncologist Curie Oncology Singapore,
Visiting Consultant National Cancer Centre Singapore.

Discipline:

Medical Oncology

Scientific Interests:

Aspirin as adjuvant therapy in established cancers
Adoptive T cell therapy and Dendritic cell vaccines in the treatment of solid tumors
Clinical Trial Design and Management

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

In the past 3 years, I have received consultant fees from Tessa Therapeutics, Aslan Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and AstraZeneca.

I received grant support for investigator-initiated research from:

National Medical Research Council Singapore
Bayer AG

I hold shares in: Roche, BMS, AstraZeneca, Incyte, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Trillium Therapeutics, Compugen, Arrowhead pharmaceuticals, Emergex, QuantumDx and Halozyme Therapeutics

Lina Badimon

Name

Lina Badimon BSc, PharmD, PhD, FESC, FAHA

Academic Affiliations:

Director of the Cardiovascular Science Program (ICCC) at the Hospital Santa Creu and San Pau, IIB-Sant Pau; CIBER CV. Director of the Cardiovascular Research Chair of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Director of the UNESCO Chair in Biomedical Sciences Training and Research.

Discipline:

Pharmacology, Cardiovascular Disease

Scientific Interests:

Cardio-metabolic diseases, thrombosis, atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

I received consultant and speakers fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Lilly and Sanofi.

Junbo Ge

Name

Junbo Ge

Ge Junbo, male, was born in Wulian, Shandong province on Nov. 8, 1962. He is the member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, professor and doctoral supervisor. He received his doctor’s degree of Medicine from German Mayence University in 1993 and now works as the director for Shanghai Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and the Center for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, Fudan University. He is also the designate chairman of the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of Chinese Medical Association, council member of the Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Association, international consultant of the American Heart Association. In Dec. 2013, he was appointed as the vice president of Tongji University.

Prof. Ge has been engaged in clinical and scientific research work of cardiovascular disease since 1987, and his research area covers the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease, early diagnosis and treatment plan optimization.

Ruth Langley

Name

Ruth Langley PhD, FRCP

Academic Affiliations:

Professor of Oncology and Clinical Trials, MRC Programme Leader and Chair of the Cancer Group, MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, honorary consultant in medical oncology at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital.

Discipline:

Medical oncologist; trialist

Scientific Interests:

Aspirin
Gastro-oesophageal malignancy
Transdermal oestrogen in the treatment of prostate cancer
Trials methodology

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

Has received honorarium from Bayer

Andrew T Chan

Name

Andrew T. Chan MD, MPH

Academic Affiliations:

Chief, Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Vice Chair, Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Co-leader, Cancer Epidemiology Program, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Boston.

Discipline:

Gastroenterology

Scientific Interests:

The role of aspirin in the prevention of colorectal cancer and other cancers
The role of the gut microbiome in colorectal cancer and other chronic gastrointestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and diverticulitis
The role of diet and lifestyle in colorectal cancer and other chronic gastrointestinal cancers

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

AACR Honors Dr. Andrew T. Chan With 2019 AACR-Waun Ki Hong Award

Click here to find the press release.

I received consultant Bayer and Pfizer, Inc.

I received grant support for investigator-initiated research from:

National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute
Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation
Bayer AG

Mike Gaziano

Name

J Michael Gaziano MD, MPH

Academic Affiliations:

Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief Division of Aging, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Director of Preventive Cardiology and Director of Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System.
Discipline: Cardiology and Epidemiology

Scientific Interests:

I am a chronic disease epidemiologist with a particular interest in the roles that individual lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, smoking), metabolic factors (obesity, high cholesterol, and hypertension), and biochemical and genetic markers play on the risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. Also, of interest is the impact that vascular disease has on other organ systems, including cognitive dysfunction and renal disease. I have an interest in the design of large-scale trials and observational studies nested in large health care systems using big data analytic techniques.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

I received consultant and speaker fees Bayer.

I received grant support as a principal investigator or co-investigator for research from the VA, DOD, NIH, Merck and Kowa.

Peter Rothwell

PAST – CHAIR

Name

Peter M. Rothwell PhD, MD, FRCP, FMedSci

Academic Affiliations:

Action Research Chair of Neurology, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford;
Founding Director, Wolfson Centre for Prevention of Stroke and Dementia, University of Oxford;
Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator;
Emeritus NIHR Senior Investigator;
Theme Leader, Stroke and Vascular Dementia, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

Discipline:

Neurology and Stroke Medicine

Scientific Interests:

Risks and benefits of aspirin;
Primary and secondary prevention of stroke;
Effects of blood pressure on the brain.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

I received consultant and speakers fees from Bayer AG.

Carlo Patrono

CHAIR

Name

Carlo Patrono MD, FESC, FRCP

Academic Affiliations:

Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology at the Catholic University School of Medicine in Rome (Italy) and at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA).

Discipline:

Clinical Pharmacology

Scientific Interests:

Studying platelet activation and inhibition in diabetes mellitus
Studying platelet activation and inhibition in myeloproliferative neoplasms
Investigating the mechanism of action of low-dose aspirin in preventing colorectal cancer

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest:

I received consultant and speakers fees from Acticor Biotech, Amgen, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Tremeau, Zambon.

I received grant support for investigator-initiated research from:

AIFA (Italian Drug Agency)
Bayer AG
Cancer Research UK
European Commission, FP6 and FP7 Programmes

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Aspirin Matters – Prof Carlo Patrono reflects on a distinguished career

Pierre Amarenco

Daniel José Piñeiro

John Chia

Lina Badimon

Junbo Ge

Ruth Langley

Andrew T Chan

Mike Gaziano

Peter Rothwell

Carlo Patrono