Jerry Leaf

Jerry Leaf
Born
Jerry Donnell Leaf

(1941-04-04)April 4, 1941
DiedJuly 10, 1991(1991-07-10) (aged 50)
OccupationCryonics

Jerry Donnell Leaf (April 4, 1941 – July 10, 1991) was Vice President and Director of the cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation, and President of the cryonics service firm Cryovita, Inc.[1] [2] until his death in 1991.

Leaf joined the United States Army and fought in special operations during the Vietnam War. Upon return, he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Cerritos College. He also worked as a cardiothoracic surgery researcher at the UCLA School of Medicine,[3] co-authoring more than 20 papers from the laboratory of Dr. Gerald Buckberg.[4]

During the late 1970s and 1980s, Leaf transformed the field of cryonics[4] by bringing unprecedented medical expertise to the field[5][6][7] and introducing technologies and procedures of thoracic surgery, especially heart-lung bypass, for improved blood vessel access and life support of cryonics patients. Leaf was involved in the first experiments done by a cryonics organization.[5]

He is most famous for developing with Mike Darwin a blood substitute shown capable of sustaining life in dogs for four hours at near-freezing temperatures.[8] Leaf was the head of Alcor's suspension team and participated in many suspensions of Alcor patients.[4]

  1. ^ "Burning Passion Drives Devotees of Cryonics Idea". Los Angeles Times. 1988. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  2. ^ "Local News in Brief : Twist in Frozen Head Case". Los Angeles Times. 1988. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  3. ^ "Putting fate on ice". Chicago Tribune. 1988. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference leaf tribute was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Bridge, Steve (1992). "Fifteen Years in Cryonics". Alcor Indiana newsletter. Alcor Indiana. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  6. ^ Kent, Saul (1980). The Life Extension Revolution. New York: Morrow. p. 308. ISBN 978-0688035808. Retrieved 2015-06-10.
  7. ^ Immortality Institute, ed. (2004). The Scientific Conquest of Death. Buenos Aires: Libros en Red. p. 141. ISBN 978-9875611351. Retrieved 2015-06-10.
  8. ^ ""Suspended Animation" proof-of-concept: Alcor's Pioneering Total Body Washout Experiments". 'Cryonics' magazine. Alcor Life Extension Foundation. 1984–1985. Retrieved 2008-02-26.