Thomas Starzl

Thomas Starzl (1926–2017) was an American transplant surgeon who pioneered liver transplantation and advanced immunosuppressive treatment, helping make organ transplantation more successful.

Liver transplantation: Surgery that replaces a diseased or failing liver with a functioning donor liver. Starzl established liver transplantation as a viable treatment through pioneering operations and clinical programs.
Graft rejection: An immune response in which a transplant recipient’s body attacks transplanted tissue. Preventing rejection was the central obstacle Starzl’s drug regimens and clinical protocols addressed.
University of Colorado: A public university system based in Colorado, with campuses in Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs. Starzl built his major early transplant program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
United Network for Organ Sharing: A nonprofit organization that manages the United States system for allocating and matching donated organs. Starzl’s Pittsburgh program helped shape transplant policy and the national systems coordinating organ allocation.
Kidney transplantation: Surgery that places a donor kidney in a person with kidney failure. Starzl’s clinical work and immunosuppressive regimens also advanced kidney graft survival.
Immunosuppression: Reduction of immune-system activity, by drugs or other means, to limit harmful immune responses. Starzl combined immunosuppression with transplantation to control attacks on donor organs.
University of Pittsburgh: A public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Starzl moved his transplant program to Pittsburgh, where it grew into a major clinical and research center.
Organ procurement: The process of identifying donors and recovering organs for transplantation. Growing transplant capacity made reliable donor identification and organ recovery increasingly consequential.
Organ transplantation: The transfer of an organ from a donor to a recipient to replace a failing organ. Starzl’s career helped transform transplantation from experimental surgery into clinical treatment.
Azathioprine: An immunosuppressive drug that interferes with DNA synthesis and limits the proliferation of immune cells. Starzl used azathioprine in early drug combinations that improved graft survival.

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