DeBakey, Michael Ellis

▪ 2009

      American cardiovascular surgeon, and educator

born Sept. 7, 1908, Lake Charles, La.

died July 11, 2008, Houston, Texas

pioneered surgical procedures for the treatment of defects and diseases of the cardiovascular system. In 1932 DeBakey devised the “roller pump,” an essential component of the heart-lung machine that permitted open-heart surgery. He also developed an efficient method of correcting aortic aneurysms by grafting frozen blood vessels to replace diseased vessels, and by 1953 he had demonstrated a technique of using plastic tubing (Dacron) instead of arterial homographs to replace diseased vessels. In addition, he performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy for stroke (1953), the first successful coronary artery bypass (1964), and the first successful implantation of a ventricular assist device (1966). DeBakey received B.S. (1930), M.D. (1932), and M.S. (1935) degrees from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. His work with the U.S. surgeon general's office during and after World War II led to the development of mobile army surgical hospitals (MASH units) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital research system. In 1948 DeBakey became professor of surgery and chairman of the department of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he later served as president (1969–79) and chancellor (1979–96). He edited the Yearbook of Surgery (1958–70), was the founding editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, and served on many medical editorial boards. Among his more than 1,600 professional and lay publications is The New Living Heart (1997). DeBakey's numerous awards include the American Medical Association Distinguished Service Award (1959), the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (1963; corecipient), the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award (1969), the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction (1969), the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal (1973), the National Medal of Science (1987), the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society's lifetime achievement award (2007), and the Congressional Gold Medal (2008), the highest civilian award given by the U.S. Congress.

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