[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 16075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. ALBERT STARR

 Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, this week marks the 50th anniversary 
of one of the most remarkable innovations in modern medicine. On 
September 21, 1960, at the University of Oregon Medical School, Dr. 
Albert Starr successfully implanted the first prosthetic mechanical 
heart valve. In 1958, Lowell Edwards, a retired mechanical engineer, 
approached Dr. Starr about the possibility of creating an artificial 
heart. Believing artificial heart technology to be a bit premature, 
Starr encouraged Edwards to consider valve replacement surgery. The 
valve they designed--a ball and cage mechanical valve--was successfully 
implanted in its first patient just 2 years later. For this 
achievement, Dr. Starr was the co-recipient of the Albert Lasker Award, 
for Clinical Medical Research in 2007.
  Dr. Starr continues to contribute to the development of medical 
science as the director emeritus of Providence Heart and Vascular 
Institute, medical director of the Albert Starr Academic Center, and 
director of bioscience research and development for Providence Health & 
Services in Oregon.
  Since the valve's first use in 1960, heart valve replacement surgery 
has saved millions of lives, giving hope to those with heart disease. 
Today, life saving heart valve replacement surgery is performed 300,000 
times each year around the globe, with more than 90,000 of those 
operations taking place in the U.S.
  Dr. Starr says he considers his legacy to be about the people he has 
trained and his patients. For him, the human interaction has been the 
most important aspect of his lifetime of achievements. I am grateful 
for his passion to help people and to help advance medical science.
  It is an honor for me to recognize Dr. Albert Starr for his 
contributions to medical innovation and I am proud to have him call 
Oregon his home.

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