Health Experts

Your Best Heart Health

I'm Dr. Simeon Margolis, a professor of both medicine and biological chemistry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

I'm proud of having earned both medical and doctorate degrees, but most people who know me well don't call me Dr. Margolis; they call me Moan. Not because I'm a constant complainer; it was the nickname my teammates gave me when I played basketball and baseball in high school and as an undergraduate at Hopkins. In 1953, I scored 44 points in a basketball game, setting a university record that still stands.

But the NBA was not in my future. I pursued my love of science and medicine, and I've been a research scientist, teacher, and practicing physician at Hopkins now for 40 years. During that time, I've also served in other capacities, as director of the division of endocrinology and metabolism and as associate dean of the medical school, helping to develop and oversee the curriculum. I became interested in diabetes and the prevention of coronary disease because they are major causes of disability and death in this country. I earned my Ph.D. investigating how the blood transports cholesterol.

I have a longstanding interest and involvement in writing about health and medical issues for the general public. For many years, I wrote a weekly medical column for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Since 1991, I’ve served as medical editor of Medizine’s “Health After 50” newsletter, a consumer health publication aimed at people over age 50.  I’ve also served as medical editor for a number of books co-published by Johns Hopkins and Medizine, namely The Johns Hopkins Medical Guide to Health After 50, The Johns Hopkins Consumer Guide to Drugs and The Johns Hopkins Consumer Guide to Medical Tests.

I welcome your thoughts and comments as I write this blog.