Joseph Murray

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Joseph Murray, see Joseph Murray (disambiguation).
Joseph Murray
Golden Plate Award (1991)
Laetare Medal (2005)
Scientific career
FieldsPlastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, transplantation
Institutions

Joseph Edward Murray (April 1, 1919 – November 26, 2012) was an American

identical twins Richard and Ronald Herrick on December 23, 1954.[1][2]

Murray shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 with E. Donnall Thomas for "their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease."[3][4][5]

Biography

Murray was born on April 1, 1919, in Milford, Massachusetts, to William A. and Mary (née DePasquale) Murray. He was of Irish and Italian descent. A star athlete at the Milford High School, he excelled in football, ice hockey, and baseball. After being influenced by his family doctor, Murray resolved to become a surgeon.[6]

Upon graduation, Murray attended the College of the Holy Cross with the intent to play baseball. However, his baseball practices and lab schedules conflicted, forcing him to give up the sport. He studied philosophy and English, earning a degree in the humanities at Holy Cross. Murray subsequently attended

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. During that time, he was inducted into the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army.[7]

Murray served in the plastic surgery unit at Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania. At Valley Forge General Hospital he worked for Bradford Cannon, a prominent plastic surgeon, and developed a passion for plastic surgery. His unit cared for thousands of soldiers wounded on the battlefields of World War II, working to reconstruct their disfigured hands and faces. His interest in transplantation grew out of working with burn patients during his time in the Army. Murray and his colleagues observed that the burn victims rejected temporary skin grafts from unrelated donors much more slowly than had been expected, suggesting the potential for organ grafts, or transplants.[7]

After his military service, Murray completed his general surgical residency, and joined the surgical staff of the

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital
. He then went to New York to train in plastic surgery at New York and Memorial Hospitals, returning to the Brigham as a member of the surgical staff in 1951.

In 2001, Murray published his autobiography, Surgery Of The Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career.[8]

Career

On December 23, 1954, Murray performed the world's first successful renal transplant between the identical Herrick twins at the

allograft and, in 1962, the world's first cadaveric renal transplant.[9]

Throughout the following years, Murray became an international leader in the study of transplantation biology, the use of immunosuppressive agents, and studies on the mechanisms of rejection. In the 1960s, top scientists investigating

Imuran (generic azathioprine) for use in transplants. The discovery of Imuran and other anti-rejection drugs, such as prednisone, allowed Murray to carry out transplants from unrelated donors. By 1965, the survival rates after receiving a kidney transplant from an unrelated donor exceeded 65%. [citation needed
]

As a Harvard Medical School faculty member, Murray trained physicians from around the world in transplantation and reconstructive surgery, frequently performing surgeries in developing countries. In his 20 years as director of the Surgical Research Laboratory at Harvard and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, he inspired others who became leaders in transplantation and biology throughout the world. He served as chief plastic surgeon at the Peter Bent Brigham (which later became Brigham and Women's Hospital) until 1986. He also served as chief plastic surgeon at

Children's Hospital Boston from 1972 to 1985, retiring as professor of Surgery Emeritus in 1986 from Harvard Medical School.[10]

In 1990, he was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his pioneering work in organ transplantation.

Murray was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences and as a regent of the

Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[11] In 1996, he was appointed Academician[12] of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican. Murray was selected to receive the Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society in March 2005.[13]

Personal life and death

Murray's father was a noted lawyer and a district court judge. Murray married his college life sweetheart Bobby Link, a school teacher, in June 1945, with whom he would have 6 children: 3 boys and 3 girls.

Murray died on November 26, 2012, aged 93. He suffered a stroke at his suburban Boston home on Thanksgiving and died at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the very hospital where he had performed the first organ transplant operation.[14][15]

References

  1. ^
    PMID 23302851
    .
  2. S2CID 31387398
    .
  3. PMID 13360847
    .
  4. S2CID 205962116
    .
  5. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1990". Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  6. PMID 31069396
    .
  7. ^
    PMID 23429736
    .
  8. PMC 1122735
    .
  9. ^ "Joseph E. Murray, 93, performed first successful organ transplant". Boston Globe.
  10. ^ "Joseph E. Murray · Plastic Surgery in Boston: Then and Now · OnView: Digital Collections & Exhibits". collections.countway.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  11. American Academy of Achievement
    .
  12. ^ "Joseph Murray". Casinapioiv.va. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  13. ^ Garvey, Michael O. (5 March 2005). "Murray, organ transplant pioneer, to receive Laetare Medal". Notre Dame News. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  14. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  15. ^ "Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who performed first successful organ transplant, dies at 93". Boston.com. Retrieved November 27, 2012.

External links

  • Joseph Murray on Nobelprize.org Edit this at Wikidata including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 1990 The First Successful Organ Transplants in Man
  • The Joseph E. Murray papers can be found at The Center for the History of Medicine at the Countway Library, Harvard Medical School.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Murray&oldid=1202373484"