[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 50 (Friday, April 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S3702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS E. STARZL

 Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I wish to recognize and honor Dr. 
Thomas E. Starzl on the 20th anniversary of the first liver transplant 
performed in Pittsburgh.
  On February 26, 1981, Dr. Starzl made history upon his performance of 
the first liver transplant at Presbyterian University Hospital (now 
UPMC Presbyterian). In the two decades since that remarkable 
accomplishment, Dr. Starzl has led the University of Pittsburgh 
transplant program to national and international prominence. UPMC, now 
the largest and most successful transplant center in the world, has 
performed more than 5,700 liver transplants; 3,500 kidney transplants; 
1,000 heart transplants; and 500 lung transplants--largely attributed 
to Dr. Starzl's trailblazing vision.
  Dr. Starzl's influence reaches well beyond western Pennsylvania. He 
has been a pioneer in the field of organ transplantation for more than 
40 years, and has compiled a distinguished career that spans the 
country and medical technology. Dr. Starzl performed the world's first 
liver transplant in 1963 at the University of Colorado, and helped to 
develop the truly revolutionary surgical techniques and anti-rejection 
drugs which have brought organ transplantation to the mainstream of 
American medicine. Dr. Starzl has authored or co-authored more than 
2,000 scientific articles and four books, received 21 honorary 
doctorates, and has been honored with more than 175 awards. Most 
recently, he was a co-winner of the King Faisal International Prize in 
Medicine for the year 2000, sharing the award with two other transplant 
pioneers. Although retired from clinical practice since 1991, Dr. 
Starzl continues to actively contribute to biomedical research as the 
director emeritus of the transplant institute in Pittsburgh, renamed in 
his honor in 1996. The Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and 
the University of Pittsburgh will pay tribute to Dr. Starzl this month 
with a ``Festschrift,'' a collection of articles by colleagues, former 
students and others published in his honor. This special event will 
inaugurate the Starzl Prize in Surgery and Immunology and unveil a 
portrait of Dr. Starzl that will be displayed in the University of 
Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
  With more than 20 years of landmark advancements in science and 
medicine to his credit, I salute Dr. Thomas E. Starzl for his 
remarkable dedication and honor his contribution to the lifesaving 
field of organ transplantation.

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