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TRANSPLANT PIONEER THOMAS E. STARZL TO RECEIVE THE JOHN SCOTT MEDAL AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 19, 2004 – Transplant pioneer Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director emeritus, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), will receive the John Scott Medal Award for his achievements in the field of organ transplantation. Dr. Starzl, who is known as the “Father of Liver Transplantation,” will receive the award this evening at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. The honor includes a $15,000 award.

The John Scott Medal Award is given to the most deserving men and women whose inventions have contributed in some outstanding way to the comfort, welfare and happiness of mankind.

The donor, John Scott, was a Scottish druggist from Edinburgh who in the early 1800’s established this fund through the Corporation of Philadelphia to honor Benjamin Franklin’s legacy of useful inventions.

Why Scott chose an American city to bestow his request is not known, although it is believed he had a longtime interest in America and appreciated the achievements of Benjamin Franklin.

In 1834, the first awards were handed out for the inventions of the knitting machine and door lock. Over the years, more awards were given for achievements in science and medicine.

Among past recipients in science and medicine are Thomas Edison and Jonas Salk, M.D., another famous Pitt faculty member who is credited with developing the polio vaccine.

Dr. Starzl performed the first human liver transplant in 1963 and the first successful liver transplant in 1967. Thirteen years later, Dr. Starzl brought transplantation a step forward when he introduced anti-lymphocyte globulin and cyclosporine, the next stage in immunosuppressive medication after the development of azathioprine and corticosteroid. These discoveries advanced the field for transplantation and became the accepted form of treatment for patients with liver, kidney and heart failure.

By 1989, Dr. Starzl introduced the anti-rejection medication FK506, which served to increase survival rates for liver and other organ transplants. This led the way to successful surgeries for other types of organ transplants, including pancreas, lung and intestine. Today, Dr. Starzl is active in research, mapping the relationship between donor and recipient cells to achieve immune tolerance after transplantation.

A committee of Philadelphians makes nominations of individuals for the award to the board of directors and city trusts of the City of Philadelphia.

The John Scott Medal Award committee stated that Dr. Starzl’s influence on transplantation and surgical science, particularly in the area of liver and kidney transplant, has made him one of the most important figures in modern medicine.

Dr. Starzl was born in Iowa in 1926 and received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Northwestern University in Chicago.

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