Randall Bertram Griepp (March 11, 1940 – September 8, 2022) was an American cardiothoracic surgeon who collaborated with

Norman Shumway Norman Edward Shumway (February 9, 1923 – February 10, 2006) was a pioneer of heart surgery at Stanford University. He was the 67th president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and the first to perform an adult human to human ...

in the development of the first successful

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common proce ...

procedures in the U.S. He had an international reputation for contributions to the surgical treatment of

aortic aneurysm An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal size. They usually cause no symptoms except when ruptured. Occasionally, there may be abdominal, back, or leg pain. The prevalence of abdominal aortic ...

s and

aortic dissection Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart. In most cases, this is associated with a sudden onset of severe chest or ...

Bicuspid Foundation
and in

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and

lung transplantation Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one lung lobe. ...

s. He received nearly $8 million in grants from the

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the third largest Institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It is tasked with allocating about $3.6 billion in FY 2020 in tax revenue to ...

. He was a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eight ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Life and career

Randall Griepp graduated from

Oakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six compre ...

and received a BS from

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. He earned his medical degree from

Stanford University Medical School Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

, then completed residencies at both

Stanford Hospital Stanford University Medical Center is a medical complex which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States and serves as a teaching hospital for the ...

and

Bellevue Hospital Center Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

. He also did a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford Hospital. In 1985, Griepp succeeded Robert S. Litwak as Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital. Under Griepp's direction, Cardiothoracic Surgery was made an independent department at both the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Hospital, and Griepp was its first chairman. A heart and lung transplant program commenced in 1990. Griepp stepped down as chairman in 2001 to pursue research and clinical interests, and was succeeded by David H. Adams. Griepp died on September 8, 2022, aged 82.

Awards

*Children's Heart Fund Precious Heart Award, 2003Children's Heart Fund
/ref> * Distinguished Scientist Award, Bicuspid Aortic Foundation

Publications

Partial list: *Etz CD, Plestis KA, Kari FA, Luehr M, Bodian CA, Spielvogel D, Griepp RB. ''Staged repair of thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms using the elephant trunk technique: a consecutive series of 215 first stage and 120 complete repairs.'' European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery 2008 Jun 12;. *Etz CD, Homann TM, Silovitz D, Spielvogel D, Bodian CA, Luehr M, Di Luozzo G, Plestis KA, Griepp RB. ''Long-term survival after the Bentall procedure in 206 patients with bicuspid aortic valve.'' Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2007 October; 84(4): 1189-1193. *Etz CD, Homann TM, Rane N, Bodian CA, Di Luozzo G, Plestis KA, Spielvogel D, Griepp RB. ''Aortic root reconstruction with a bioprosthetic valved conduit: a consecutive series of 275 procedures.'' Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2007 June; 133(6): 1455-1463. *Spielvogel D, Etz CD, Silovitz D, Lansman SL, Griepp RB. ''Aortic arch replacement with a trifurcated graft.'' Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2007 Feb; 83(2): 3791-3795. *Etz CD, Halstead JC, Spielvogel D, Shahani R, Lazala R, Homann TM, Weisz DJ, Plestis K, Griepp RB. ''Thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair: is reimplantation of spinal cord arteries a waste of time?'' Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2006 November; 82(5): 1670-1677. *Carroccio A, Spielvogel D, Ellozy SH, Lookstein RA, Chin IY, Minor ME, Sheahan CM, Teodorescu VJ, Griepp RB, Marin ML. ''Aortic arch and descending thoracic aortic aneurysms: experience with stent grafting for second-stage.'' Vascular. 2005 January–February; 13(1): 5-10. *Hagl C, Strauch JT, Spielvogel D, Galla JD, Lansman SL, Squitieri R, Bodian CA, Griepp RB. ''Is the Bentall procedure for ascending aorta or aortic valve replacement the best approach for long-term event-free survival?'' Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2003 September; 76(3): 698-702. *Griepp RB, Ergin MA, Galla JD, Lansman S, Khan N, Quintana C, McCollough J, Bodian C. ''Looking for the artery of Adamkiewicz: a quest to minimize paraplegia after operations for aneurysms of the descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta.'' Journal of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery. 1996 November; 112(5): 1202-1213. *Griepp RB, Stinson EB, Bieber CP, Reitz BA, Copeland JG, Oyer PE, Shumway NE. ''Human heart transplantation: current status.'' Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 1976 August; 22(2): 171-175. *Griepp RB, Stinson EB, Hollingsworth JF, Buehler D. ''Prosthetic replacement of the aortic arch.'' Journal of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery. 1975 December; 70(6): 1051-1063.

References

External links

Mount Sinai Hospital homepageIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai homepageThe Society of Thoracic Surgeons Surgical Video Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griepp, Randall B. 1940 births 2022 deaths American medical academics American medical researchers American surgeons Stanford University School of Medicine alumni Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty People from Marshall, Minnesota