Thomas E. Starzl was universally acclaimed as the 'Father of Transplantation,' a visionary who established the foundation for modern organ transplantation as a life-saving medical discipline. He joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1981 as professor of surgery after groundbreaking work at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where he performed the world's first human liver transplant in 1963. Born on March 11, 1926 in Le Mars, Iowa to a newspaper publisher and nurse, Starzl developed exceptional manual dexterity through hands-on work at his father's newspaper, skills that would prove essential for his surgical career. He earned both his MD and PhD from Northwestern University Medical School and completed surgical residencies at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Miami, and Northwestern University before dedicating his career to solving the challenges of organ transplantation.
Starzl pioneered the use of immunosuppressive drugs including azathioprine and corticosteroids for kidney transplants in 1962-1963, creating the first successful regimen for preventing organ rejection in allogenic transplants. His introduction of cyclosporine in 1980 revolutionized the field by transforming transplantation from an experimental procedure to a standard accepted treatment for patients with end-stage liver, kidney and heart disease, enabling surgeons to explore transplantation of other organs including pancreas and lung. He performed the first successful human liver transplant in 1967 and the first simultaneous heart and liver transplant in 1984 on six-year-old Stormie Jones, while also establishing the clinical utility of tacrolimus and proposing the concept of microchimerism in transplant tolerance. Starzl's work provided the scientific foundation for organ transplantation as a viable treatment for inherited metabolic diseases, fundamentally changing the therapeutic landscape for patients with otherwise incurable conditions.
The Institute for Scientific Information documented in 1999 that Starzl's work had been cited more than any other researcher in the world, with 26,456 citations between 1981 and June 1998, underscoring his profound impact on medical science. He established the Pittsburgh Transplantation Institute in 1985, which was renamed the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute in 1996 to honor his contributions to the field, creating a multidisciplinary resource dedicated to improving the lives of patients with end-stage organ failure. Starzl's autobiographical memoir, The Puzzle People, was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on doctors' lives, reflecting his thoughtful consideration of the ethical dimensions of transplantation. Though he passed away on March 4, 2017 at age 90, Starzl's legacy continues through the institute that bears his name and the countless lives saved by transplantation procedures that were once considered impossible.
