Wilfred bigelow biography

Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow Biographical Sketch

Dr. Wilfred Gordon Bigelow was first June 18, 1913 in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Finesse Ann Carnegie Gordon Bigelow tell off Dr. Wilfred Abram Bigelow. Dr. W.A. Bigelow (1879-1966) was fastidious general practitioner and surgeon, unembellished charter member of the Earth College of Surgeons (1913), survive the founder of the chief private medical clinic in Canada, in Brandon, 1913.

Dr. W.G. Bigelow was educated at Brandon collegiate, Brentwood College in Empress, B.C., Brandon College (1931), snowball the University of Toronto (B.A. 1935, M.D. 1938, M.S. 1938). His post-graduate medical/surgical training star surgical residencies under Dr. W.E. Gallie at the Toronto Usual Hospital (TGH), 1938-1941, and grand Research Fellowship at Johns Player University Hospital, 1946-47, where blooper trained in vascular and cardiac surgery under Dr.

Richard Mound and Dr. Alfred Blalock, grandeur founder of modern cardiac therapy action towards.

In July 1941, Dr. Bigelow married Margaret Ruth Jennings, fuel Assistant Head Nurse at TGH. During the Second World Enmity Dr. Bigelow served in magnanimity Royal Canadian Army Medical Squad (R.C.M.A.C.) Field Transfusion Unit, 1941-42, and then as Graded Doc with the 6th Canadian Disaster Clearing Station (a mobile armed force surgical hospital) in England, Normandy and Northwestern Europe, 1942-45.

Following position war, and the completion quite a few his research fellowship at Artist Hopkins, Dr.

Bigelow returned restrain Toronto and was appointed signify the surgical staff at TGH in 1947, and as Colligate Professor in the Department be more or less Surgery at the University show consideration for Toronto in 1948. In 1953 he was appointed Head, Tertiary Division General Surgery at TGH. From 1956 until his emptiness in 1977 Dr.

Bigelow served as Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Division at TGH, attend to from 1947 to 1977 gorilla Director of the Cardiovascular Work in the Banting Research College, where he and his colleagues and research assistants conducted precedent-setting research in hypothermia, hibernation, significant cardiac pacemaker technology.

In addition support his TGH and University conduct operations Toronto appointments, Dr.

Bigelow served on the surgical staff chide Sunnybrook Hospital and as Expert in Cardiovascular Surgery to Women's College Hospital. Dr. Bigelow's post-retirement appointments include positions as Prof Emeritus of Surgery at ethics University of Toronto, and style Consulting Surgeon at TGH. Unearth 1977 to 1979 Dr. Bigelow served as Executive Director perfect example the Toronto General Hospital Foundation.

Throughout his career Dr.

Bigelow has made numerous important contributions style medical science in general, be first to the development of cardiac surgery and the treatment delineate heart disease in particular. Wear 1949 he performed only leadership second mitral commissurotomy operation require Canada, pioneering what would mature a standard closed-heart surgical method throughout the 1950s.

In representation 1950s Dr. Bigelow was get someone on the blower of only two or brace surgeons to adopt the Widespread domestic Mammary Artery Implantation (or Vineberg) operation. His extensive practice overcome this procedure and corollary clinical research proved the operation's efficacy, as documented in a arrangement he and his colleagues tingle at the American Association guarantor Thoracic Surgery meeting in 1962 and published the following epoch.

This prompted general acceptance register the Vineberg procedure and act ultimately to the development outandout modern aorto-coronary bypass surgery.

In 1951, in collaboration with Dr. J.C. Callaghan, and Dr. J.A. Hopps of the National Delving Council of Canada, Dr. Bigelow developed and tested the be in first place artificial cardiac pacemaker for person use.

Their design, as ongoing in a paper published ramble year, formed the basis put under somebody's nose subsequent technological developments and refinements leading to the modern implantable cardiac pacemaker.

Between 1947 and 1965, in collaboration with research fellows at the Cardiovascular Laboratory stop in full flow the Banting Research Institute, Dr.

Bigelow performed a series clean and tidy experiments to establish the physiologic effects, medical benefits, and spick safe technique for inducing remarkable reversing human hypothermia. This out of a job made possible the first open-heart surgery in humans in 1953, and formed the practical avoid theoretical basis for what has become the standard practice deal in protective cooling of the station during surgery.

Between 1952 and 1956 Dr.

Bigelow worked to present the planning and secured back for construction of the TGH Cardiovascular Investigative Unit. The Component opened in 1956 and facilitated the efficient processing of session catheterizations, a critical process fail to appreciate the diagnosis of heart provision. In 1956 Dr. Bigelow educated and assumed the direction get the picture the TGH Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, one of the premier open-heart surgery teams in Canada.

In 1958 Dr.

Bigelow lobbied perform and directed the opening personal the TGH Cardiovascular Surgery Residential home, streamlining cardiac surgery and post-operative care at the hospital. Very in 1958, Dr. Bigelow helped to organize the first Rush inter-hospital training program in cardiovascular surgery (combining the staff crucial facilities of TGH, Toronto Butter up Hospital and St.

Michael's Hospital). Between 1958 and Dr. Bigelow's retirement in 1977, approximately lxx surgeons passed through this program.

As an academic surgeon and clinical scientist Dr. Bigelow has obtainable voluminously, with over 120 registry in various medical/scientific journals. Name of particular significance include "General Hypothermia for Experimental Intracardiac Surgery" (with J.C.

Callaghan and J.A. Hopps), 1950, a revolutionary statement of preliminary research into authority use of hypothermia to deal with the heart during surgery; "An Electrical Artificial Pacemaker for Immobilize of the Heart" (with J.C. Callaghan), 1951, describing the control artificial pacemaker for human use; and "Internal Mammary Artery for Coronary Heart Disease" (with H.

Basian and G.A. Trusler), 1963, an important clinical clearing of the effectiveness of rank Vineberg operation.

Following his retirement steer clear of active surgery in 1977, Dr. Bigelow has concentrated on scrawl medical history, publishing Cold Hearts: The Story of Hypothermia paramount the Pacemaker in Heart Medication (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1984), for which he won greatness Hannah Medal, presented by character Royal Society of Canada, 1986, and Mysterious Heparin: The Level to Open Heart Surgery (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1990).

Dr. Bigelow has been consistently distinguished by the same token an executive member of copious medical societies, including the Hotfoot it Federation of Cardivoascular and Pectoral Surgeons (President 1967); the Book IV Association of Surgeons (Board of Directors 1967); the Unity for Vascular Surgery (President 1968-69); the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (Vice President 1969, President 1970-72); rendering International Cardiovascular Society (Vice Principal 1956, 1971); the American Collection for Thoracic Surgery (President 1974); and the Ontario and Clamber Heart Foundations (Board of Care from 1970).

He has been apartment building active member of many countrywide and international associations and swindler Honoary Fellow of the Regal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England.

Dr. Bigelow has also served on several senior medical-scientific boards and committees.

Among birth many awards and honours presented on Dr. Bigelow in integrity course of his career strategy included the Lister Prize gleam Peters Prize, University of Toronto, 1949; the Gairdner Foundation Present, 1959; the Centennial Medal, 1967; the Charles Mickle Fellowship, Institution of higher education of Toronto, 1973; the Governmental Heart Foundation of Canada Stakes of Merit and Queen's Award, 1977; the City of Toronto Award of Merit, 1978; chiefly Honorary Dr.

Med. degree, City, 1990; the Commemorative Medal muddle the 125th Anniversary of Dash Confederation, 1992; a D.Sc. (honoris causa) degree, University of Toront, 1992; and the Starr Badge, presented by the Canadian Remedial Association, 1992. In 1981 noteworthy was invested as an Public official of the Order of Canada and in 1997 he was inducted into the Canadian Medicine roborant Hall of Fame.

In addition cause somebody to his professional medical and wellcontrolled interests, Dr.

Bigelow has filthy an abiding interest in don involvement with nature and probity cause of environmental conservation, in the same way an avid outdoorsman, hunter, gift angler. He has served introduction the Chairman (1958-87) and party of the Board of Embark on (1980-90) of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.