Richard H. Lawler

Richard H. Lawler, M.D. (August 12, 1895 — July 24, 1982) was an American surgeon who led a surgical team at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Illinois. On June 17, 1950, Lawler and his team performed what is considered the first human kidney transplant on record. The groundbreaking operation involved transplanting a kidney from a deceased female patient into a 44-year-old woman with polycystic kidney disease. The details of the operation were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Early life and education

Lawler was born in Chicago on August 12, 1895, to Irish immigrant parents. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War I and later attended DePaul University and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree.

Career

After completing his internship at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, Lawler joined the medical staff of Little Company of Mary Hospital in 1932. It was at this hospital that he led the historic kidney transplant in 1950. The operation was hailed as a daring surgical feat by Newsweek.

Lawler's pioneering work in organ transplantation is chronicled in the book "The Graft: How a Pioneering Operation Sparked the Modern Age of Organ Transplants" by Edmund O. Lawler, the surgeon's great-nephew. The patient who received the transplant, Ruth Tucker, lived for five more years before succumbing to heart disease.

Although the transplanted kidney only functioned for a short period of time, Lawler's work laid the foundation for future advancements in organ transplantation. His contributions to the field of medicine continue to be recognized and celebrated.

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  Richard H. Lawler, M.D. (1895 - 1982)