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Topping off a year-long observance of the 50th anniversary of the first successful human organ transplant conducted at BWH in 1954, a special celebration was held on January 21 to honor Joseph E. Murray, MD, leader of that historic surgical team and included BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, and Rep. Peter Koutoujian, House chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care.
“The anniversary has been an excellent opportunity to reflect on BWH’s heritage, a year truly to marvel at the courage and persistence of that first transplant team,” Gottlieb said. “We acknowledge the spirit of innovation that is the heart and soul of this great institution and which we honor in our quest to find new ways to solve medicine’s most complex problems.”
Gottlieb mentioned a chance encounter while at City Hall the day before. “A young man told me how 20 years earlier, he’d donated a kidney to his ailing brother. He asked me to convey his thanks to Dr. Murray and all the BWH staff for the transplant that restored his brother back to health, to his two small children and to the community,” he said. “Thanks to all of you, transplantation has become a much more routine and available aspect of care around the world,” he concluded.
Koutoujian began his remarks saying how grateful he was to BWH for the care provided to his family during the recent birth of his son. The House resolution he presented commended transplant teams for the pioneering work not only in the first successful transplant, but also in the many breakthroughs since. “Your talent and dedication give hope to thousands of critically ill patients,” he added.
Murray credited the first transplant team for “changing countless lives the world over.” “Each time I recount the milestones, I think not of what any one of us has done individually, but rather what we as a team have achieved,” he said. Quoting famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, he said, “The secret of stardom is the rest of the team.”
The celebration was a fitting end to this year of commemoration, honoring the impressive achievements of transplantation with high hopes for continued BWH successes and innovations.