Murray, Joseph E.

Murray, Joseph E., 1919–, American surgeon, b. Milford, Mass., M.D. Harvard, 1943. Trained as a plastic surgeon, Murray became interested in organ transplants, performing the first human kidney transplant in 1954 between two men who were identical twins. He continued to develop the process, creating new drugs that made it easier for nonrelatives to be donors. For his pioneering procedure he was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with E. Donnall Thomas. In later years Murray returned to plastic surgery, developing procedures to correct inborn facial defects in children.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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