ILTS acknowledges with profound sadness and respect the death of Thomas Earl Starzl, the great pioneer of liver transplantation. Dr. Starzl worked tirelessly for more than three decades to develop and refine both the transplant procedure and the pivotal enabling science of immunosuppression. From 1962, he championed the experimental phase of liver transplantation, overcoming formidable clinical and societal barriers to bring liver and other organ transplants into the mainstream in the early 1980s. After this, and even after his retirement from surgical practice in 1991, he continued to innovate and lead as liver transplantation expanded across the world, benefitting tens of thousands of new patients yearly.

In his family’s words, and no doubt in the thoughts of numberless others who knew him, “He was a pioneer, a legend, a great human and a great humanitarian. He was a force of nature that swept all those around him into his orbit, challenging those that surrounded him to strive to match his superhuman feats of focus, will and compassion.”

Emeritus Professor Jan P Lerut honors Dr Starzl in ESOT News

…as does Dr. John J. Fung in AJT News