Young Investigator’s Award

March 27, 2003

Carin Mohan
Director, Physician Relations
Medtronic Cardiac Surgery
7601 Northland Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55428-1088

Dear Ms. Mohan:

We seek to establish a young investigator’s award in honor of Dr. John C. Norman. We plan to make a formal announcement at a reception during the Mary 2003 AATS meeting in Boston. The purpose of this award will be to recognize promising young African American surgical residents and support their research training in cardiothoracic surgery consistent with our mission “to mentor and enhance the development and training of African American surgeons in service to their communities”.

Dr. Norman, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, received his thoracic training at the University of Michigan under Dr. Herbert Sloan. In 1964, he returned to Boston as a member of the Harvard Surgical Service at the Boston City Hospital. By 1969, he explored the feasibility of a circulatory assist device by implanting hundreds of left ventricular assist devices into calves. In 1971, he presented some of this data at an international meeting also attended by Dr. Denton Cooley. On the return flight home, Dr. Cooley persuaded Dr. Norman to join him at the Texas Heart Institute as Director of the Surgical Research Laboratory in 1972. Once in Houston, he designed a series of experimental protocols to develop a prototype left ventricular assist device suitable for human implantation. In December 1975, Drs. Norman and Cooley implanted the first LVAD into a human. Together, they implanted twenty-two such devices. The impact of Dr. Norman's efforts has been summarized by Robert Jarvik, inventor of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart. “Norman’s meticulous homodynamic documentation... was the benchmark that the rest of us struggled to achieve.” During his time at the Texas Heart Institute, his clinical and research efforts generated hundreds of peer-reviewed articles.

Although his remarkable contributions to the development of ventricular assist devices alone merit the accolades of the cardiac surgical community, his most enduring contribution may be found the the careers of the research assistants he mentored, the surgeons he taught in the operating room and the current generation of African American cardiac surgeons who seek to emulate his legacy of excellence.

We are asking for your help to fund a kickoff reception where Dr. Norman would e formally recognized for his critical role in the development of ventricular assist devices and lauded by several of his contemporaries. We are soliciting the support of you and other like-minded contributors, initially for a kickoff reception in May subsequently to help establish the funding of this award in perpetuity.

With May drawing near, we look forward to discussing this opportunity with you at your earliest convenience. Dr. Crittenden (617) 232-7700 x6815 or Dr. Higgins (312) 942-6373.

Sincerely,

Robert S. D. Higgins, M.D.

Michael D. Crittenden, M.D.

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