Murray, Joseph E.

Murray, Joseph E., 1919–, American surgeon, b. Milford, Mass., M.D. Harvard, 1943. Trained as a plastic surgeon, Murray became interested in organ transplants, performing the first human kidney transplant in 1954 between two men who were identical twins. He continued to develop the process, creating new drugs that made it easier for nonrelatives to be donors. For his pioneering procedure he was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with E. Donnall Thomas. In later years Murray returned to plastic surgery, developing procedures to correct inborn facial defects in children.

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Murray, Joseph E. (Edward) (1919–  ) surgeon; born in Milford, Mass. Trained as a plastic surgeon, he joined Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston (now Brigham and Women's Hospital) (1951–86). He became interested in treatments for kidney failure in the 1950s, and performed the first human kidney transplant between identical twins in 1954. After investigating the effects of immunosuppressant drugs, he then performed the first human kidney transplant from an unrelated donor in 1962. For this lifesaving research, Murray won one-half the 1990 Nobel Prize in medicine. He became professor of surgery at Harvard (1970), and returned to plastic surgery, treating facial defects in children at Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston (1972–85).