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Albert Starr, MD
Albert Starr, MD

    Albert Starr, MD, is an internationally-acclaimed surgeon, scientist, inventor, and teacher. Few individuals have had such a profound and enduring effect on the practice of medicine and healing of the human heart as Dr. Albert Starr. He currently serves as the medical director of the Providence Heart and Vascular Institute, a comprehensive, international center for the study and treatment of cardiovascular disease and the largest and most advanced cardiac treatment center in the Pacific Northwest. 

    Additionally, Dr. Starr is the director of Academic Affairs & Bioscience Development for Providence Health & Services, Oregon. In this capacity, he oversees the support, development and continued advancement of patient care through clinical research and education throughout the Providence Centers of Excellence, representing a broad swath of disciplines, including cardiac and vascular, cancer, neurosciences and aging.

    In 1960, Dr. Starr and Portland engineer Lowell Edwards teamed up to invent the world's first successful artificial mitral valve, which Dr. Starr used when performing the world's first clinically successful mitral valve replacement surgery later that same year. The mitral valve version was followed with an aortic model and, in 1963, Dr. Starr performed the world's first successful triple valve replacement at Oregon Health & Science University during his tenure there as chief of cardiopulmonary surgery. In 1985, he performed the first heart transplant in Oregon and initiated the state's heart transplantation program. Through his work with the Starr-Wood Cardiac Group, Dr. Starr introduced open-heart surgery to the western United States, for both adult and pediatric cases, contributing many refinements to this now-common procedure and influencing cardiovascular surgeons in major centers around the world. 

    Dr. Starr is also a pioneer in outcomes research. Since 1960, Dr. Starr and Gary Grunkemeier, Ph.D., have tracked and studied the long-term results of Dr. Starr's heart surgeries, using annual updates on nearly 20,000 patients. The findings have enhanced treatment in Oregon and far beyond, through hundreds of scientific journal articles and presentations at medical symposia around the globe. Additionally, Dr. Starr has taught advanced surgical techniques to heart specialists throughout the world. His students have included more than 250 cardiac fellows from 25 countries.           

    A native of New York, Dr. Starr earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia College and his medical degree from Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons. After an internship at Johns Hopkins, he completed his General and Thoracic Surgical Residencies at Bellevue and Presbyterian Hospitals in New York City. He was recruited to Oregon in 1957 to head a new heart surgery program at the University of Oregon Medical School.

    Over the course of his illustrious career, Dr. Starr has garnered numerous awards and honors. Most recently, he shared international accolades with Dr. Alain Carpentier as co-winners of the prestigious 2007 Albert Lasker Award in the category of Clinical Medical Research, for the development of prosthetic mitral and aortic valves, which have prolonged and enhanced the lives of millions of people with heart disease.

    A sampling of Dr. Starr's many other awards includes the prestigious 2008 Phoenix Hall of Fame Innovators Award in recognition of his contributions to cardiac surgery and the development of prosthetic mitral and aortic valves. In 2001, he received the Croix de Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur, in recognition of his contributions to cardiac surgery and collaboration with the French scientific community. Presented by President Jacques Chirac, the Legion d'honneur is France's highest civil merit award, created by Napoleon Bonaparte more than 200 years ago to acknowledge uniquely courageous military service and recognize civilian recipients who have made exceptional contributions to France. In 2000, Dr. Starr received the International Heart Pioneer award from the Societe de Chirurgie Thoracique Cardio-Vasculaire de Langue Francaise, one of only 11 American surgeons to have received this honor. He was the second American to receive the Leriche Award from the International Vascular Society, and in 1988, he became the sixth U.S. physician and the first cardiac surgeon to receive the American College of Cardiology's Distinguished Scientist Award.

    Dr. Starr is an active member in a variety of international and national professional societies and organizations. Among his many memberships and positions held, he served as president of the American Society of Thoracic Surgeons from 1985 to 1986, as well as chairman, Thoracic Advisory Board for the American College of Surgeons. He holds numerous honorary degrees and has garnered honors from various prominent universities and organizations, including Lewis and Clark College, Reed College, Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon; Columbia University in New York; University of London; the American College of Surgeons; the Western Thoracic Surgical Association; and the Society of Transpercutaneous Valve Replacement.

     

     

    Schedule28 Mar 2024