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Michael DeBakey

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Artist: Peter Shapiro, 17 Jan 1933 - 16 Oct 2004
Sitter: Michael DeBakey, 7 Sep 1908 - 11 Jul 2008

Date: 1997 (cast 1998)

Type: Sculpture

Medium: Bronze bust
Dimensions: With Socle: 53.3 × 60.3 × 40.6cm (21 × 23 3/4 × 16"); Socle footprint: 60.3 × 40.6cm (23 3/4 × 16")

Topic: Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses; Costume\Dress Accessory\Glove; Costume\Headgear\Hat\Cap\Surgeon's cap; Michael DeBakey: Male; Michael DeBakey: Medicine and Health\Physician\Surgeon; Michael DeBakey: Science and Technology\Inventor; Michael DeBakey: Medicine and Health\Physician\Army\Surgeon; Michael DeBakey: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor\Medicine; Michael DeBakey: Presidential Medal of Freedom; Michael DeBakey: Congressional Gold Medal; Portrait

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Restrictions & Rights: Usage conditions apply

Object number: NPG.98.35

Exhibition Label: Born Lake Charles, Louisiana; An innovative leader in the treatment of heart disease, surgeon Michael DeBakey helped inaugurate a new era in cardiovascular surgery. The pump he designed for use in blood transfusions proved critical to the development of heart-lung machines that made open-heart surgery possible. DeBakey also pioneered the use of Dacron fabric for vascular grafts and tubing. In the 1960s he led efforts to develop a mechanical pump—known as a ventricular assist device—to support patients with failing heart function. Among the first to perform coronary bypasses, DeBakey made history in 1968 when he and his team transplanted four organs from a single donor to four different recipients.; Nacido en Lake Charles, Louisiana; El cirujano Michael DeBakey, líder y pionero en el tratamiento de las enfermedades cardiacas, inauguró una nueva era para la cirugía cardiovascular. DeBakey diseñó una bomba para transfusiones de sangre que resultó crucial en el desarrollo de las máquinas de reanimación cardiopulmonar que posibilitaron la cirugía de corazón abierto. También fue el precursor del uso de material sintético (dacrón) en injertos y entubados vasculares. Durante la década de 1960 lideró esfuerzos para crear una bomba mecánica (conocida como “dispositivo de asistencia ventricular”) que apoyara las funciones de pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca. DeBakey fue de los primeros en realizar desvíos coronarios (bypasses) y en 1968 hizo historia cuando junto a su equipo trasplantó cuatro órganos de un solo donante a cuatro receptores distintos.
Provenance: Peter E. Shapiro [1933-2004]; purchased NPG 1998

Data Source: National Portrait Gallery

Exhibition: 20th Century Americans: 1960-2000
On View: NPG, South Gallery 342