Keith Reemtsma | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Reemtsma in 1984 | |
| Born | 5 December 1925 Madera, California |
| Died | 23 June 2000 New York City, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
| Known for | Cross-species kidney transplantation from chimpanzee to human (1964) |
| Medical career | |
| Institutions | Tulane University |
| Sub-specialties | Xenotransplantation |
Keith Reemtsma (5 December 1925 – 23 June 2000) was an American transplant surgeon, best known for the cross-species kidney transplantation operation from chimpanzee to human in 1964. With only the early immunosuppressants and no long-term dialysis, the female recipient survived nine months, long enough to return to work.
Reemtsma was brought up on a Navajo reservation in Arizona, eventually moving to Utah and then graduating from Idaho State College in Pocatello in 1945. In the 1960s he was professor of surgery at Tulane University, Louisiana, and he later became chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah.
Reemtsma also developed the intra-aortic balloon pump to bridge the time to heart transplant, and performed early research on pancreatic islet cell transplantation for diabetes mellitus. In 1971, he was appointed chairman of the Department of Surgery at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he was involved in developing a multidisciplinary approach to transplant services, as well as advocating surgical repair and reconstruction as an alternative to radical excision.