Joseph Murray
Encyclopedia
Joseph Edward Murray (born April 1, 1919) is a retired American plastic surgeon. He performed the first successful human kidney transplant
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
on identical twins on December 23, 1954.
Murray shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1990 with E. Donnall Thomas
E. Donnall Thomas
Dr. Edward Donnall Thomas is an American physician, professor emeritus at the University of Washington, and director emeritus of the clinical research division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In 1990 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph E. Murray for the...
for work on organ and cell transplantation
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
.
Life
Murray was born the son of William A. Murray and Mary DePasquale and grew up in Milford, MA. He was a star athlete at the Milford High SchoolMilford High School (Massachusetts)
Milford High School is the secondary school for the district of Milford, Massachusetts. It is one choice for Milford students to attend high school. Another is Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School. As seen on the side, the principal is Mr. Michael Tempesta, formerly of...
. Murray excelled in football, ice hockey, and baseball. Upon graduation, Murray attended the College of the Holy Cross
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
intending to play baseball. The baseball practices and lab schedules conflicted forcing him to give up baseball. Murray later attended Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
. After graduating from medical school, Murray joined the US Army where he studied surgery at Valley Forge General Hospital
Valley Forge Army Hospital
Valley Forge General Hospital was a former military hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The hospital was near both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Valley Forge. It was the only United States Army General Hospital named for a place.- History :...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
In 2001, Murray published his autobiography, Surgery Of The Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career, which doubles as a story of 14 of his experiences and the struggles with them.
Career
In December 1954, Murray performed the world's first successful renal transplant between the identical Herrick twins at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital; he was assisted in this task by J. Hartwell Harrison, M.D.J. Hartwell Harrison, M.D.
John Hartwell Harrison was a key member of the pioneer medical team that received the 1961 Amory Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for bringing kidney transplantation to the world....
and other noted physicians. In 1959, he performed the world's first successful allograft and, in 1962, the world's first cadaveric renal transplant. Throughout the following years, Murray became an international leader in the study of transplantation biology, the use of immunosuppressive agents, and studies on the mechanisms of rejection. In the 1960s, the discovery of anti-rejection drugs such as azathioprine
Azathioprine
Azathioprine is a purine analogue immunosuppressive drug. It is used to prevent organ rejection following organ transplantation and to treat a vast array of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, pemphigus, inflammatory bowel disease , multiple sclerosis, autoimmune hepatitis, atopic...
, imuran and prednisone, allowed Murray to carry out transplants from unrelated donors.
Murray served as chief plastic surgeon at Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston is a 396-licensed bed children's hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts.At 300 Longwood Avenue, Children's is adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical School, and to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute...
from 1972–1985 and retired as professor of Surgery Emeritus in 1986 from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
.
Personal life
He married Virginia Link in 1945, with whom he has had three sons and three daughters. He enjoys tennis, biking and swimming.Camel Red
Murray is featured in the book Camel Red which is the story of Larry Heron, who was very seriously injured in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and his road to recovery, on which he is reunited with Murray with whom he used to go to school.
(hardcover)