Director of Cardiovascular Surgery Research,
Texas Heart Institute
Professor of Surgery,
University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston
Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery,
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Tenured professor,
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston
For
more than 25 years, Dr. Frazier has been a pioneer in the treatment of
severe heart failure and in the fields of heart transplantation and
artificial devices that may be used either to substitute for or to
assist the pumping action of the human heart. As a result of his work,
THI became one of the top transplantation and mechanical circulatory
support programs in the world. He has performed over 1,100 heart
transplants and implanted more than 700 left ventricular assist devices,
more than any other surgeon in the world.
Dr. Frazier graduated from
The University of Texas and received his medical degree at Baylor
College of Medicine, where he received the DeBakey Award for Outstanding
Surgical Student. He served in the Army 1968-70 and distinguished
himself as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Army 48th Assault Helicopter
Company in Vietnam. He received the Combat Flight Medal, the Vietnamese
Navy Medal, and the Vietnamese Distinguished Service Medal. After his
military service, he returned to Houston and completed his specialty
training in general surgery under Dr. Michael E. DeBakey at Baylor
Affiliated Hospitals and a residency in thoracic and cardiovascular
surgery under Dr. Denton A. Cooley at the Texas Heart Institute.
Dr.
Frazier’s interest in mechanical circulatory support began in 1969,
when, as a student at Baylor College of Medicine, he wrote a research
paper about the experimental total artificial heart, which was first
implanted in 1969 by Dr. Denton Cooley. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s,
Dr. Frazier continued experimental work toward development of the
implantable HeartMate I left ventricular assist device (LVAD). In 1986,
he performed the first implant of one of these devices in a human; this
device has become the most widely used implantable LVAD in the world.
Dr. Frazier’s seminal work in the field of left ventricular assist
devices continued with experimental studies that resulted in the first
intravascular, implantable continuous flow pump (Hemopump), which he
first implanted in a human in April 1988. After more than 10 years of
research, in 2000, he performed the first human implant of the Jarvik
2000 LVAD (also a continuous flow pump). In November 2003, he implanted
the first HeartMate II LVAD in a patient; the HeartMate II is based on a
similar principle to that of the Hemopump. In 1991, one of Dr.
Frazier’s patients was the first to be discharged home with an
implantable, non-tethered LVAD.
In 1985, during his tenure on the
Advisory Board of NHLBI, Dr. Frazier recommended that research be
initiated on a total artificial heart (TAH) that would be fully
implantable and that would allow patients to be discharged and to live a
normal lifestyle. The program was recommended for funding, and,
subsequently, in the early 1990s, Dr. Frazier became involved in the
animal experiments that led to the first implantation of the AbioCor
total artificial heart (TAH) in 2001. The AbioCor is currently the only
non-tethered, implantable artificial heart approved for use by the Food
and Drug Administration. Dr. Frazier continues to work toward a new
generation TAH—one that is smaller and more reliable, so that patients
of all sizes and ages might benefit.
January 9, 2013
"The revolutionary artificial heart without a pulse"
Dr.
Bud Frazier has been working on making an artificial heart since the
1960s. In 2011, Frazier and his colleague Dr. Billy Cohn implanted the
first of a new kind of artificial heart: one without a pulse. Minnesota
Public Radio's The Daily Circuit talks with guests Dr. Bud Frazier and
Dr. Billy Cohn from the Texas Heart Institute. Listen . . .
|
Dr.
Frazier has served on the editorial boards of several distinguished
medical journals, including Circulation, the premier journal of the
American Heart Association, and The Journal of Heart and Lung
Transplantation. He has authored or co-authored more than 1000
scientific publications, presented over 700 lectures around the world,
and written or edited numerous books in the field of cardiovascular
medicine, cardiopulmonary transplantation, and mechanical circulatory
support. He is a former chairman of the Federal Affairs Committee for
the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs and has served on
other prominent national committees, including the Education Committee
of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the Advisory Board of
the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. In 2001, he was elected
president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs.
Dr.
Frazier has received numerous honors, including the Living Legend Award
from the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, the Gift to Mankind
Award from the American Organ Transplant Association, the Distinguished
Surgeon Award from the Houston Surgical Society, Honored Physician Award
from the American Heart Association Guild and the Ray C. Fish Award for
Scientific Achievement from the Texas Heart Institute.
CONTACT DR. FRAZIER
HEART FAILURE PROGRAM 832-355-3961
Located at the Heart and Lung Treatment and Transplant Center
Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center
LVAD PROGRAM 832-355-2285, toll free at 877-685-0361
HEART TRANSPLANT PROGRAM 832-355-2285, International: 832-355-3350
RESOURCES AT BAYLOR ST. LUKE'S MEDICAL CENTER
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