Papers of Clarence Dennis Added to Profiles in Science

An extensive selection from the papers of American surgeon Clarence Dennis (1909-2005) has been added to the NLM® Profiles in Science® Web site under the Health & Medicine section. With this addition, the number of prominent researchers, public health officials and promoters of medical research whose personal and professional records are presented on Profiles has grown to thirty-two.

Dennis developed one of the first heart-lung bypass machines. In April 1951, after numerous trials with dogs, Dennis and his team became the first to use a pump-oxygenator to perform open heart surgery on a human patient. While perhaps best known as a surgeon and inventor, Dennis was also a dedicated medical educator and administrator whose trainees went on to expand the boundaries of the surgical treatment of heart disease.

"Clarence Dennis's creative vision and rigorous research brought us one of the most important medical technologies of the 20th century. Most cardiac surgery would be impossible without the heart-lung machine," said Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, Director of the National Library of Medicine®.

Papers of Clarence Dennis Added to Profiles in Science. NLM Tech Bull. 2011 Jul-Aug;(381):e6.