Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: renal transplantation

  • The privilege of caring for three Nobel laureates and learning from another

    Kevin LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States My experience with Nobel laureates began on Monday, July 2, 1979. The previous weekend, I had started my urology residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. The outgoing resident had signed out the urology service to me the evening before and mentioned, “Doctor Harrison has a suprapubic prostatectomy booked…

  • A brief history of kidney transplantation

    Laura Carreras-PlanellaMarcella FranquesaRicardo LauzuricaFrancesc E. BorràsBarcelona, Spain We may think of renal transplantation as routine therapy today, but this procedure has taken centuries to develop and is marked by important events in the history of science. An ancient description of the kidneys is found in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, dated to 1550 BC and discovered…

  • Unlikely pioneers in renal transplantation: The Little Company of Mary Sisters

    Jayant RadhakrishnanDarien, Illinois, United States Dr. Joseph Murray deservedly received the Nobel Prize in 1990 for his magnificent pioneering work in the field of renal transplantation.1 However, it is not widely known that religious sisters from the congregation of the Little Company of Mary also deserve much credit for their support of renal transplantation in…