Albert Starr

Albert Starr (June 1, 1926 – December 11, 2024) was an American cardiovascular surgeon and was the first surgeon to successfully implant the Starr-Edwards heart valve surgically. Starr resided and practiced in the Portland, Oregon, area and was special adviser to OHSU Dean of Medicine Mark Richardson and OHSU President Joseph Robertson (OHSU) at Oregon Health and Science University. He worked closely with the inventor of the Star-Edwards heart valve, Miles “Lowell” Edwards, to test the device and ensure its safety before its first use.

Education Starr was born in New York, New York, on June 1, 1926 and educated in New York public schools.

He received his B.A. degree from Columbia University in 1946 and his M.D. degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1949.

He resumed training in New York in 1953, and completed his residency in 1957. and developing the first surgical procedures for the design in 1960. Starr was an instructor in surgery when he met Lowell Edwards in September 1958, who helped him design a new medical device for mitral valve surgery. Starr has said of this meeting, "He was in his 60s and I was in my 30s, but there was no generation gap between us."

In 1960, he performed the world's first successful artificial mitral valve implant, at OHSU.

Awards 1972: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 2007: Lasker Award 2015: Scientific Grand Prize of the Lefoulon-Delalande Fondation