MIAMI, FL, January 21, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Murray Epstein, MD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Epstein celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Over a career as a physician and professor of medicine exceeding 50 years, Dr. Epstein has excelled as a world renowned professor of medicine and clinician in the division of nephrology of the University of Miami since 1970. In 2009, he was designated as a professor of medicine emeritus at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. Dr. Epstein served as an assistant professor of medicine from 1970 to 1974, an associate professor of medicine from 1974 to 1978 and a professor of medicine from 1978 to 2009.
From 1968 to 1970, Dr. Epstein served as a Major in the United States Air Force. Serving as a medical investigator at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. In this role, he supported the Air Force's mission to develop the Manned Orbital Laboratory, in which he conducted clinical studies of the effect of hypodynamics, weightlessness and Hypobaria during Manned Spaceflight. Inspired by the work and research of head-out water immersion by Professor Otto Gauer, he leveraged this research model to study the effects of redistribution of blood volume (with central blood volume expansion) in regulating volume homeostasis. For the following 25 years, Dr. Epstein conducted more than 400 water immersion studies.
Dr. Epstein further served as an assistant in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral research fellow in nephrology at Brigham and Women's Hospital between 1966 and 1968. Prior to these respective posts, he completed his medical internship and medical residency initially at the University of Wisconsin Medical School from 1963 to 1965, and subsequently at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland General Hospital from 1965 to 1966.
Widely renowned as an advocate for utilizing mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists as a treatment for chronic kidney disease and congestive heart failure, Dr. Epstein is noted for his outstanding research on the pathogenesis and management of hypertension, the renal complications of liver disease and other edematous disorders. He is recognized as a trailblazer in the development of head-out water immersion, a unique clinical investigational model that he has defined and applied to the study of an extensive range of diseases, and to the elucidation of the determinants of abnormal volume homeostasis including renin-aldosterone alterations, as well as eicosanoid, kallikrein, vasopressin and ANF responsiveness in diverse edematous disorders. Most recently, he has focused his research on mineralocorticoid receptor signaling as a determinant of cardiovascular complications in congestive heart failure and chronic kidney disease, as well as ESRD patients who are being treated by hemodialysis. As a result, Dr. Epstein has maintained active involvement in the development of innovative drugs (potassium binders) to manage hyperkalemia, illuminating their role as enablers to facilitate sustained RAASI therapy while avoiding the necessity for down-titration or discontinuation of RAASI.
Dr. Epstein is also proud of his role as the global co-chairman of the Data Safety Monitoring Committees for three major clinical trials: FIDELIO, FIGARO and FINEARTS-HF. Between 2015 and 2020, these clinical trials have included more than 24,000 patients in 67 countries across the globe, which has since resulted in significant medical advancements and developments. Further, he has excelled as a consultant to numerous biotech companies that have been developing and introducing new breakthrough drugs. He was invited to serve as an expert panel member on the Space Science Board at the Expert Summit Meeting on Long-Duration Manned Space Flight for the National Research Council in Snowmass, Colorado in 1977. For many years, Dr. Epstein has served as a consultant for Manned Space Research at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The proceedings of the committee's deliberations were published as "Life Beyond the Earth's Environment" by the National Academy of Sciences in 1979.
Beyond his primary responsibilities, Dr. Epstein has participated in numerous endeavors within his professional circles. In recent months, he has contributed as a keynote speaker and a program committee member for the Second World COVID Conference, chaired and served as a speaker at the World Congress of Nephrology in CapeTown, South Africa in 2015. He served as chairperson of the Council on Hypertension of the National Kidney Foundation between 1990 and 1993. He has also served as chairperson of many national and global symposia, conferences and review boards. As a testament to his stellar impact as a researcher and educator, Dr. Epstein has garnered much acclaim as a lecturer, interviewee, consultant, mentor and visiting professor.
Dr. Epstein has enjoyed a prolific career as an author and editor. He authored "Hypertension: Practical Management" in 1988 and more than 10 major books in clinical medicine, more than 440 journal articles, 120 book chapters and 130 abstracts. He served as the editor of four editions of "The Kidney in Liver Disease" between 1978 and 1996. He also served as editor of "Calcium Antagonists in Clinical Medicine" in 1992 and 2003, as well as "Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonists" in 2000. Dr. Epstein has been affiliated as both and officer and member of many professional societies, including the American Society of Hypertension, the American Society of Nephrology, the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and the Aerospace Medical Association.
Dr. Epstein was also elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Physiological Society and the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation and the Society for Experimenting Biology and Medicine. Furthermore, he was a member of the International Society of Nephrology and the American Federation for Clinical Research. He attended Columbia College in New York City, earning a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in 1959. He continued his medical studies at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1963. Dr. Epstein has been licensed to practice medicine in Florida since 1970, and is a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Subspecialty Board in Nephrology and the American Board of Internal Medicine.
In light of his achievements, Dr. Epstein has received several accolades during his impressive career. He was elected as a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and he was awarded a prestigious Medical Investigatorship by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, serving from 1972 to 1976. He was presented with the Distinguished Scientist Award from the National Kidney Foundation in 1990 and the prestigious Marvin Moser Award for Clinical Hypertension from the American Society of Hypertension in 2011. Likewise, Dr. Epstein was selected for inclusion in the 18th edition of Who's Who in the World, the 23rd edition of Who's Who in the South and Southwest, the 63rd edition of Who's Who in America and multiple volumes of Who's Who in American Education and Who's Who in Science and Engineering.
Dr. Epstein was drawn to the field of medicine due to the support and encouragement of his parents and his mentors, who included Dr. David Seegal at Columbia University, Dr. Robert Schilling at the University of Wisconsin, Dr. George Gabuzda and Dr. Charles Rammelkamp at Case Western Reserve University and Dr. John Merrill at Harvard Medical School and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, who launched Dr. Epstein's career in academic nephrology. In 1985, he collaborated with renowned medical illustrator Frank Netter, whose global influence led to significant innovations in the world of medical education. He collaborated with Dr. Netter to produce one of his famous Clinical Symposia booklets, titled "Renal Complications of Liver Disease." Dr. Epstein's collaboration with Dr. Netter was written up 20 years later by Francine Netter in her award-winning book "Medicine's Michelangelo."
Among his countless achievements, Dr. Epstein cites 1) his development of a powerful investigative model of head-out water immersion utilized in the clinical study of gravitational forces on volume homeostasis and 2) decades-long studies elucidating the role of calcium antagonists as efficacious medications in the treatment of a wide array of cardiovascular diseases, as the highlights of his career. Looking toward the future, he intends to continue supporting the next generation of professionals operating within his subspecialty while cementing his legacy as a hard-working and ethical physician.
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