James Magner

Note: Poker photo with aces taken by Peter Hvizdak, Connecticut Magazine.

James A. Magner, MD is an endocrinologist and scientist (now retired) who had a 14-year career in academic medicine during which he cared for thousands of patients, taught hundreds of students, published 70 scientific articles based on NIH grant support as well as other grants, and was promoted to Professor of Medicine. In 1990 and 1997 he helped the US government assess persons in the Marshall Islands who were exposed to radioactive fallout after the 1954 Bikini hydrogen bomb accident. When laboratory grant support finally ran out, he risked joining a global pharmaceutical company (Bayer Corp.) as an Associate Medical Director in a US section -- he was on a steep learning curve.

After impressive successes in his first two years, he was promoted to a higher US position and then to an important global position within Bayer Clinical Research. He traveled the world to interact with many international physicians and experts to keep up with the very latest in endocrinology drug development. Because of his expertise in thyroid cancer and the biochemistry of the hormone TSH, he was successfully recruited by Genzyme to guide the clinical development globally of a manufactured form of TSH, Thyrogen, and was promoted to Global Vice President of Clinical Research for Endocrinology. He also assumed roles in Global Medical Affairs. He traveled even more to meet with doctors, sales teams, and government regulators in scores of countries, providing medical guidance for numerous global clinical studies and negotiating with regulators about medical data to obtain important drug label approvals.

After retiring in 2016, he has written several books:

"Curious Exploits: A Family Seeks Success in Nineteenth Century America" (2023)

"The Legacy of a Steamboat Cabin Boy" (2020)

"Seeking Hidden Treasures: A Collection of Curious Tales and Essays" (2019, and expanded second edition 2020)

"Free To Decide: Building a Life in Science and Medicine" (2015)

"Chess Juggler: Balancing Career, Family and Chess in the Modern World" (2011)

He remains active in chess, astronomy, paleontology, volunteer work at Yale Hospital and his church. He is a skilled Texas Hold'em Poker player with tournament winnings approaching a half-million dollars. He is married with two grown daughters and two grandchildren.