Joseph Murray: Pioneering Plastic Surgeon and Father of the First Organ Transplant

Dr. Joseph Murray was a plastic surgeon who is best known for performing the first successful human organ transplant. After graduating from Harvard Medical School and completing a surgical internship at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Murray enlisted in the US Army Medical Corp and spent 5 years at Valley Forge General Hospital treating World War II soldiers injured in combat. He treated hundreds of burn victims with skin grafts and took an interest in the variable process of graft rejection based on both the patient's relation to the graft donor and the patient's level of immunocompetency. His work at Valley Forge set the stage for his research investigating the feasibility of kidney transplantation and immunosuppression. He went on to perform the first successful kidney transplant between identical twins in 1954, between fraternal twins in 1959, and between an unrelated donor and recipient in 1962. For his efforts, he was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in Medicine.