Lawrence H. Cohn, M.D. [1937–2016]
Lawrence Harvey Cohn, the Virginia and James Hubbard Professor of Cardiac Surgery, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School, enjoyed a picture-perfect career in cardiac surgery. He was born in San Francisco on 11 March 1937, where he grew up with his parents and two siblings. Lawrence Cohn excelled as undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated from Stanford University in 1958 as the first medical doctor in his family. This marked the beginning of a most distinguished career as a physician, surgeon, scientist and teacher. Throughout this career, Dr. Cohn has seen further by standing on the shoulders of giants. At Stanford, Dr. Norman Shumway inspired his interest in cardiac surgery. As a result, Lawrence Cohn fell under a powerful spell that made him spend entire weeks on the cardiothoracic unit without ever leaving the hospital. Luckily, his loyal wife Roberta would bring food and other necessities into the hospital for him during this time. Following medical school, Dr. Cohn trained in general surgery on the Harvard Surgical Service at Boston City Hospital as well as the surgical service at the University of California Hospitals in San Francisco. He also intercalated 2 years of research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, where Dr. Andrew Glenn Morrow and Dr. Eugene Braunwald served as his academic mentors. During this time Dr. Cohn continued to hone his surgical skills by performing a large number of experimental animal operations. Dr. Cohn subsequently trained in cardiothoracic surgery at his alma mater Stanford. Upon completion of his residency in 1971, Dr. Cohn was recruited by Dr. Francis Moore and Dr. John Collins to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he would spend the rest of his career. By 1986 he had become Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Brigham, in 1992 he was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Paris, and in 1999 he took the first endowed Chair in Cardiac Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
An exhaustive description of Dr. Cohn’s scientific contributions to cardiothoracic surgery is beyond the scope of this article. Among other things, Dr. Cohn popularized mitral valve repair in America by developing simplified techniques to avoid the need for posterior leaflet advancement flaps. Dr. Cohn was also an early advocate of the hemisternotomy approach for less invasive cardiac surgery. These contributions are reflected by more than 500 research papers written by Dr. Cohn. Moreover, he undertook extensive editorial activities. Dr. Cohn served as founding editor of the Journal of Cardiac Surgery, editor of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, editor of Operative Techniques in Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery, editor of Modern Techniques in Surgery and served on the editorial board of the Journal of Thoracic Disease.
Dr. Cohn’s track record as an educator has led to the nickname “Master of Masters” (1). Dr. Cohn trained more than 200 residents and fellows, including Dr. Prem Shekar, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Brigham, Dr. David Adams, Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital, and Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic, CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Dr. Cohn also wrote over a dozen textbooks, including the acclaimed reference book “Cardiac Surgery in the Adult”.
On 8 January 2016 the field lost a consummate physician, perfected technician, innovative scientist and committed educator. We lost a teacher, colleague and friend. Dr. Cohn is survived by his wife of over 50 years; two children and three grandchildren.
Acknowledgements
None.
Footnote
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
References
- You SX. A master of masters in cardiac surgery: Lawrence H. Cohn. J Thorac Dis 2015;7:1068-9. [PubMed]
