Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and educator (d. 2008)
Michael Ellis DeBakey (born Michel Dabaghi; September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008) was an American vascular surgeon and cardiac surgeon, scientist and medical educator who became the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, director of the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center (formerly known as Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center), and senior attending surgeon at Houston Methodist Hospital (formerly known as the Methodist Hospital) in Houston, with a career spanning 75 years.
Born to Lebanese Maronite Christian immigrants, DeBakey was inspired to pursue a career in medicine by the physicians that he had met at his father's drug store, and he simultaneously learned sewing skills from his mother. He subsequently attended Tulane University for his premedical course and Tulane University School of Medicine to study medicine. At Tulane, he developed a version of the roller pump, which he initially used to transfuse blood directly from person to person and which later became a component of the heart–lung machine. Following early surgical training at Charity Hospital, DeBakey was encouraged to complete his surgical fellowships in Europe, before returning to Tulane University in 1937. During the Second World War, he helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units and later helped establish the Veterans Administration Medical Center Research System.
DeBakey's surgical innovations included coronary bypass operations, carotid endarterectomy, artificial hearts and ventricular assist devices. He used polyethylene terephthalate (Dacron) grafts to replace or repair blood vessels and pioneered surgical repairs of aortic aneurysms, an operation he himself underwent at the age of 97. DeBakey received a number of awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, and the Congressional Gold Medal. In addition, a number of institutions bear his name.