Dr. Bud Frazier Receives Ray C. Fish Award for Scientific Achievement
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| From left, Dr. Denton Cooley presents Dr. Bud Frazier with
the Ray C. Fish Award for Scientific Achievement. |
HOUSTON (August 1, 2008) Bud Frazier, M.D., has received the Ray C. Fish Award for Scientific Achievement from the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Dr. Frazier is chief of Cardiopulmonary Transplantation at the Texas Heart Institute, co-director of the Institute’s Cardiovascular Research Laboratories and director of Surgical Research. He is chief of the Transplant Service at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. His academic appointments include professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, clinical associate professor of Surgery at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and clinical professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
For the past 40 years, Dr. Frazier has been a pioneer in the treatment of severe heart failure and in the fields of heart transplantation and of mechanical devices that may be used either to substitute for or to assist the pumping action of the human heart. His interest and work with mechanical assist devices began while he was still a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine, under the direction of Dr. Michael DeBakey.
During his 25 years as director of the division of cardiopulmonary transplantation, Dr. Frazier has guided the service into one of the top transplantation programs in the world. He and his team have performed more than 1,000 heart transplants and implanted more than 800 heart assist devices. His reputation as a cardiothoracic surgeon attracts patients from all over the world to the Texas Heart Institute for treatment. Other surgeons also seek his expertise and often invite him to consult on operations and program development at their institutions.
Ray C. Fish was a leading figure in the natural gas industry and a philanthropist. Mr. Fish believed in the American dream of “opportunity for success.” The Ray C. Fish Foundation was established so that others might be encouraged to broaden man’s self-knowledge and to keep the American dream alive. After its founder’s death from heart disease, the Fish Foundation granted $5 million to make the Texas Heart Institute a reality. For this reason, the Institute’s highest professional award is given in honor of this extraordinary man. The award recognizes those whose innovations have made significant contributions to cardiovascular medicine and surgery. (See Ray C. Fish Award for Scientific Achievement for a list of recipients.)
