Michael L. Hess

Michael L. Hess (10 August 1942 – 13 April 2019) was an American professor of cardiology and physiology at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) who was instrumental in founding the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), of which he served as its first president.

Early in his career he worked on the physiology of heart muscle, and in taking care of Richard Lower's patients after they had received heart transplants. His research included looking at the effects on a donor heart after reperfusion therapy following a period of low oxygen. In 1980, he had begun to contact people active in the field of heart transplantation for the purpose of gathering information on heart transplants and creating a transplant group. It led to the formation of the ISHLT. After retiring, he returned to the MCV to set up a cardio-oncology program in 2013, before retiring again in 2017.

Hess was posthumously awarded the 2020 ISHLT lifetime achievement award in April 2021. The cardiology library at the MCV, the Dr Michael Hess Library, is named for him.

Early life and family Michael Lees Hess was born in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, on 10 August 1942. He completed his undergraduate studies from Saint Francis University in 1964, before starting training to be a wrestling coach, but following an eye injury during a practice wrestle he was advised by the town's only physician to study medicine. He gained admission to the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, and a professor of physiology offered to help with tuition fees in exchange for working in his new cardiac muscle research laboratory, where Hess then spent the subsequent three years. His research included looking at the effects on a donor heart after reperfusion therapy following a period of low oxygen, and in 1981, he published the original description of the effects of oxygen-free radicals on donor heart muscle after they were re-supplied with blood.

In 1980, then professor of medicine in cardiology at the MCV, Hess had begun to contact people active in the field of heart transplantation for the purpose of gathering information on heart transplants and creating a transplant group at the upcoming American Heart Association meeting. In addition to a friend from his student days, his first contacts included Michael Kaye, Jack Copeland and John S. Schroeder. After retiring, he returned to the MCV to set up a cardio-oncology program in 2013, before retiring again in 2017.

Awards and honours Hess received several awards for his efforts in teaching junior doctors, and students of physiology and medicine. The cardiology library, which he unveiled himself the previous year, in the West Hospital at the MCV, the Dr Michael Hess Library, is named for him.

Selected publications He published authored or edited three textbooks and more than two hundred research papers.

Books

Papers

Hess et al (1981). "Characterization of the excitation—contraction coupling system of the hypothermic myocardium following ischaemia and repercussion". Cardiovascular Res. 15: 380

Footnotes