Thomas Starzl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas Starzl
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Thomas Starzl after performing a transplant surgery circa 1990
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Thomas Earl Starzl
March 11, 1926 Le Mars, Iowa
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| Died | March 4, 2017 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | BA, Westminster College, 1947 MD, Northwestern University, 1952 PhD, Northwestern University, 1952 |
| Known for | Performed the first human liver transplant in 1963 Developed the clinical applications of cyclosporin Contributed to the field of immunosuppression |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Transplantation surgery, Immunology |
| Institutions | University of Pittsburgh |
Thomas Earl Starzl (born March 11, 1926 – died March 4, 2017) was an American doctor and researcher. He was a top expert in organ transplants. He is famous for doing the first human liver transplants. Many people call him "the father of modern transplantation."
A movie about his medical and scientific work, called "Burden of Genius," came out in 2017. Dr. Starzl also wrote a book about his life, "The Puzzle People: Memoirs Of A Transplant Surgeon," which was published in 1992.
Contents
A Life of Discovery
Early Years
Thomas Starzl was born on March 11, 1926, in Le Mars, Iowa. His father, Roman Frederick Starzl, was a newspaper editor and science fiction writer. His mother, Anna Laura Fitzgerald, was a teacher and a nurse. Thomas was the second of four children.
When he was a teenager, Thomas wanted to become a priest. But his plans changed a lot when his mother died from breast cancer in 1947.
His Education Journey
Thomas went to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. There, he earned a degree in biology. He then attended Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.
In 1950, he earned a Master of Science degree in anatomy. In 1952, he earned two more degrees: a Ph.D. in neurophysiology and an M.D. (Doctor of Medicine). While in medical school, he became good friends with Professor Loyal Davis, a brain surgeon.
Dr. Starzl spent an extra year in medical school to finish his Ph.D. He wrote an important paper about how to record electrical signals from deep inside the brain. These signals were responses to things like flashes of light or loud sounds. This paper has been used as a reference in many other scientific articles.
In 1959, he received a special scholarship from the Markle Foundation. After medical school, he trained in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Jackson Memorial Hospital. At both places, he did a lot of research on animals and in labs. He was very interested in how the liver works.
A Career in Transplantation
From 1962, Dr. Starzl worked as a surgeon and researcher at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He focused on organ transplantation, which was a very new field at the time. In 1981, he moved to the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1999, a group called the Institute for Scientific Information announced something amazing. They said that Dr. Starzl's work had been mentioned more often than any other researcher in the world. Between 1981 and 1998, his work was mentioned over 26,000 times!
His book, The Puzzle People, was named one of the best books about doctors' lives by The Wall Street Journal. He wrote the entire book in just three months.
Dr. Starzl made many important contributions to medicine. Here are some of his most famous achievements:
- He performed the first human liver transplant in 1963. He then did the first successful human liver transplant in 1967. Both of these happened at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
- He helped show how useful two important medicines, ciclosporin (in 1982) and tacrolimus (in 1991), were for transplant patients. These medicines help stop the body from rejecting new organs.
- He developed many new ways to keep organs healthy before transplant. He also improved how organs are taken from donors and how they are transplanted.
- He helped doctors understand when organ transplantation was a good idea and when it was not.
- He showed that organ transplants could treat some inherited metabolic diseases. This helped explain why gene therapy is important today.
- He realized that medicines that weaken the immune system could sometimes cause other problems, like infections. He found that reducing these medicines could help treat these problems.
- In 1984, he performed the first transplant of both a heart and a liver at the same time. This was done on a six-year-old girl named Stormie Jones at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
- He suggested the idea of microchimerism to explain how the body might accept a transplanted organ over time.
Awards and Special Recognition
Dr. Starzl received many awards and honors for his groundbreaking work.
Awards
- Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences (2016)
- Anthony Cerami Award in Translational Medicine (2015)
- Baruch S. Blumberg Prize (2014)
- Lasker Award (2012) for clinical medical research
- Carnegie Science Chairman's Award (2010)
- Gustav O. Lienhard Award (2009)
- Physician of the Year Award for Lifetime Achievement (2009)
- National Medal of Science (2004), given by President George W. Bush
- John Scott Award (2004)
- King Faisal International Prize for Medicine (2001)
- Lannelongue International Medal (1998)
- Jacobson Innovation Award (1995)
- Peter Medawar Prize (1992)
- William Beaumont Prize in Gastroenterology (1991)
- Distinguished Service Award (1991)
- Golden Plate Award (1983)
- David M. Hume Memorial Award (1978)
- Brookdale Award in Medicine (1974)
- Bigelow Medal
- City of Medicine Award
Dr. Starzl was even named one of the most important people of the Millennium. He was ranked No. 213 in a book called "1,000 Years, 1,000 People."
He also received special honorary degrees from 26 universities around the world. These degrees recognized his amazing contributions to science and medicine.
In 2006, when he turned 80, the University of Pittsburgh named one of its newest medical research buildings after him. It is now called the Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower. On October 15, 2007, a street near his office was named "Thomas E. Starzl Way."
A statue honoring Dr. Starzl was revealed on June 24, 2018. It stands on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Honors
Grand-Cross of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, Portugal (1995)
Retirement and Continued Research
Dr. Starzl stopped performing surgeries and seeing patients in 1991. However, he did not stop working! He spent his time on research and remained a professor of surgery. He worked at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute.
Even after "retiring," he became known as one of the most productive scientists in the world. He was also the most mentioned scientist in the field of clinical medicine.
See also
Images for kids
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Thomas E. Starzl Way on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh
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Entrance to the Thomas Starzl Biomedical Research Tower at the University of Pittsburgh.
