DEBAKEY, MICHAEL

born Sept. 7, 1908, Lake Charles, La., U.S. in full Michael Ellis DeBakey American surgeon and pioneer in surgical procedures for treatment of defects and diseases of the circulatory system. DeBakey received M.D. (1932) and M.S. (1935) degrees from Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana. He volunteered for military service during World War II, and his work with the U.S. Surgeon General's office led to the development of mobile army surgical hospitals (MASH units). In 1948 he became professor of surgery and chairman of the department of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. DeBakey devised the roller pump, a component of subsequent heart-lung machines used in open-heart surgery, in 1932. He also developed an efficient method of correcting aortic aneurysms by grafting frozen blood vessels to replace diseased vessels. By 1956 DeBakey had developed a technique of using plastic tubing instead of grafts. In 1963 he reported the successful implantation of a mechanical device into a human chest to assist the heart action. Although the patient died four days after the operation, the pump improved the heart action. DeBakey received numerous awards, including the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Research (1963; co-recipient), the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award (1969), the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction (1969), the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal (1973), and the National Medal of Science (1987). He edited the Yearbook of Surgery (195870); among his other publications is The Living Heart (1977; co-authored with Antonio Gotto).