Q&A with Stephen Marcus, 2019 Man of the Year

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation New England Chapter is thrilled to honor Stephen Marcus as Man of the Year at the 2019 Fete of Food and Wine, its largest annual fundraising gala, which takes place Saturday, November 2 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. A Massachusetts native, Stephen is a founding partner at Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks and is recognized locally and nationally for his contributions to condominium and community association law. Stephen was an integral part of the formation of the New England Chapter, and he currently serves on the Chapter’s advocacy committee working to put patient protections in place against Step Therapy. 

What is your personal connection to Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis?

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 13 in 1967. Dr. Peter Banks – now at Brigham and Women’s Hospital – was at the forefront of dealing with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. To put it in perspective, the colonoscopy wasn’t invented until two years after I was diagnosed. I had the disease through high school and college. Anyone who has an invisible disease like this, it made high school even harder. Then, at 20 years old, it disappeared for 30 years – I wasn’t on any medications. And then nine years ago, it came back – I was a Memorial Day party and I doubled over. That’s when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s.

What compels you to continue being involved with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation?

It’s the young people. I love talking to parents and helping them when they don’t know where to turn, or they have to make tough choices and they need support. It can be so overwhelming dealing with treatments and the various biologics, and I know what it’s like to be a teen with IBD and an adult with IBD, so I can relate. It’s a great reward to support so many people – they’re my motivation.

How is your family involved?

When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s, my son, Jake, was in college and on the cross country team at the time. He decided to quit so that so that he could run marathons across the country to raise money for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. That’s when we started Team Intestinal Fortitude, along with several very generous people in the town of Easton. That first year, our goal was to raise $12,500 – and we actually raised $162,000. In 2017, Jake got the only bib for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation in the London Marathon. In the last nine years, we’ve raised more than $1.2 million. It’s meant the world to me to have Jake walking along side me and supporting me, and we’re a great team.

What is your vision for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation for the next five years?

I’m hoping that there won’t be a chapter or an organization because there won’t be a need for it.

What does it mean to you to be honored as Man of the Year?

I’ve put a lot of passion and energy into this organization, and I’m proud of the work I’ve done and the efforts I’ve put in over the last nine years. This feels like a culmination of what I’ve spent the large part of almost a decade focusing on, and I hope that we’ve had – both nationally and as a chapter – a large part in bringing us a few steps closer to a cure and advancing important treatments.