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t m c » p u l s e | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 18 sixty-four hours later, but he ultimately succumbed to renal failure and acute pneumonia. "It was the first bridge to transplan- tation," recalled Cooley. "We did not perceive having the patient live months or years with an artificial heart, we just wanted him to live long enough to find a donor." There have been immeasurable advances in cardiovascular medicine since then, largely due to the lessons learned from early assist and replace- ment devices. With each new device developed or innovative surgical proce- dure introduced, physicians worldwide are able to provide better patient care. "Dr. Cooley envisioned the Texas Heart Institute as being committed to prevention and cure, as well as surgical repair," said Willerson. "That continues still today, and all of this work needs to continue in the future. The direction is exactly the same, but continues to enhance the basic research toward cura- tive and preventative strategies. "It was always about building a team that would work from the subcellular up to and through the devices, as a team," he added. "A team devoted to trying to prevent cardiovascular disease. And when we can't prevent it, to cure it or make it much more tolerable for the individual patient." O.H. "Bud" Frazier, M.D., THI direc- tor of cardiovascular surgery research, and a surgeon who Cooley proudly refers to as "one of my stars," was an early champion of mechanical circula- tory support. He is known for, among many other things, being the first to implant the HeartMate I left ventric- ular assist device (LVAD) in a human. That device would go on to become the most widely used implantable LVAD in the world. Together with William E. visiting surgeons from around the world gather to observe a procedure by cooley's team in the early days of the texas heart institute. (credit: texas heart institute) dr. cooley is probably the very best heart surgeon who has ever lived. He has great technical skills, enormous experience, the courage to tackle these things, and wonderful judgment about what needed to be done in individual patients. — JAmeS t. willerSon, m.d.