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Mesotherapy Associates Marion Shapiro ’77 is helping men and women lose weight without the pain and side effects of liposuction.
After working in emergency medicine for 21 years, Shapiro chose to hang up her stethoscope. However, in a visit to France, a friend employed by Chanel told her about a client who wanted mesotherapy.
Although she was unfamiliar with the procedure, Shapiro’s interest was piqued. Upon completing training in France, she brought her expertise to a practice in West Orange, N.J., in June 2002. This bold move gained publicity and Shapiro was touted as a pioneer in promoting the field domestically. She opened a second office in New York City a year later.
Shapiro has appeared on television in outlets such as ABC’s “The View,” CBS’ “48 Hours,” and CNN, and has been featured in such publications as US News & World Report, Men’s Health, and Self to discuss her work in the groundbreaking field.
Shapiro decided to bring mesotherapy to the United States because no one else was practicing it.
“It is a permanent solution, a non-surgical solution to losing weight,” she says. “There’s no expense of surgery, and it really makes a difference in people’s lives. The risks of mesotherapy are almost minimal.”
A biology graduate, Shapiro attended medical school at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), where she was trained in general medicine. She completed her residency at Columbia University in emergency medicine.
She is thankful for the support and acceptance given to her at Lafayette in a time where few women sought degrees in the sciences.
“I never felt discriminated against, and I was encouraged to pursue my interests,” she says. “It was important to me to have support, because I was one of 10 women in a class of 211 at PCOM. I was proud to achieve that goal at a time when women were such a small percentage of accepted medical students across the country.”
Shapiro, along with her husband, Michael Saffer ’77, has hosted accepted student receptions for the better part of a decade.
“It feels rewarding to meet incoming students accepted to Lafayette,” she says. “We get to help them choose to go there based on sharing our personal experiences. We are very proud to be part of the ongoing Lafayette family.”