Albert Starr

Albert Starr (June 1, 1926 – December 11, 2024) was an American cardiovascular surgeon and was the first surgeon to successfully implant the Starr-Edwards heart valve surgically. Starr resided and practiced in the Portland, Oregon, area and was special adviser to OHSU Dean of Medicine Mark Richardson and OHSU President Joseph Robertson (OHSU) at Oregon Health and Science University. He worked closely with the inventor of the Star-Edwards heart valve, Miles “Lowell” Edwards, to test the device and ensure its safety before its first use.

Life and career

Starr was born in New York, New York, on June 1, 1926. He received his B.A. degree from Columbia College (now Columbia University) in 1946 and his M.D. degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1949. He then went on to do his internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital and his residency in general and thoracic surgery at the Bellevue and Presbyterian Hospitals of Columbia University. He was an assistant in surgeon at Columbia University until 1957, when he moved to Oregon—having been enticed, in part, by the Oregon Heart Association's promises to help fund his research and to take him salmon fishing. There he worked for the Crippled Children's Division at the University of Oregon Medical School (now the Oregon Health and Science University). Starr was an instructor in surgery when he met Lowell Edwards in September 1958. Starr has said of this meeting, "He was in his 60s and I was in my 30s, but there was no generation gap between us."

File:Starr-Edwards-Mitral-Valve.jpg

Starr-Edwards mitral valve

Starr is credited with successfully implanting the world's first durable artificial mitral valve and developing the first surgical procedures for the world's first artificial heart valve in 1960.

Starr died on December 11, 2024, at the age of 98.

Awards

1972: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement

2007: Lasker Award

2015: Scientific Grand Prize of the Lefoulon-Delalande Fondation

See also

• Mitral valve replacement

Bibliography

• Borghi L. (2015) "Heart Matters. The Collaboration Between Surgeons and Engineers in the Rise of Cardiac Surgery". In: Pisano R. (eds) A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 53-68
• A.M.Matthews, The development of the Starr-Edwards heart valve, Tex Heart Inst J. 1998; 25(4): 282–293

External links

• Surgeon Albert Starr takes on new role at Oregon Health & Science University, leaving heart program at Providence St. Vincent
• Made in Portland: the world's first artificial heart valve, Sept. 21, 1960