Gerald Murray Lawrie (born 15 October 1945 in

Murwillumbah, New South Wales Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River (New South Wales), Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano va ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) is an American heart surgeon and pioneer in the surgical treatment of valvular heart disease of Australian descent.

Early life and education

Gerald Murray Lawrie was born in 1945 in

, a country town with a population of 15,000. He grew up in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, attended

The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...

and graduated from the University of Sydney Medical School in 1969.

Surgical training and career

He was a Commonwealth Scholarship holder throughout medical school and as an undergraduate was awarded the James McRae Yeates Prize for Clinical Surgery. He continued his surgical education in the teaching hospitals of the university of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia between 1969 and 1972 when he left for a year of post-graduate education in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. This included five months at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He returned to

in 1973 and completed his residency training in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Sydney at his previous teaching hospitals. During this period,

Michael E. DeBakey Michael Ellis DeBakey (September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008) was an American general surgery, general and cardiovascular surgeon, scientist and medical educator who became Chairman of the Department of Surgery, President, and Chancellor of Baylor ...

was a visiting professor in Sydney and invited Lawrie to spend a year with him in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Between 1974 and 1975, Lawrie completed a Cardiovascular Fellowship at

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

with DeBakey and was invited to join his personal staff as an associate surgeon as well as the Department of Surgery at

. In this capacity, he worked with DeBakey on a daily basis for over 20 years and accumulated a very extensive experience in the surgical management of end-stage and complex cardiovascular disease. During this time he participated in the surgical care of many notable figures such as the

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

, the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

, the

King of Belgium The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the ...

, and a number of other royal figures. He helped set up cardiovascular surgery programs in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He was also actively involved in student and resident teaching and carried out extensive research in cardiovascular surgery. In early 1994, he spent 3 months in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, setting up a cardiac surgery program at a new 300 million dollar medical center for Health Care International. This entity was formed by

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

-based physicians with major financial support from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He then returned to

to continue his career at

Publications

* Lawrie GM. Ensuring proper leaflet apposition during mitral valve repair. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008 Jan;135(1):228; author reply 228–9. * Nagueh SF, Buergler JM, Quinones MA, Spencer WH 3rd, Lawrie GM. Outcome of surgical myectomy after unsuccessful alcohol septal ablation for the treatment of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007 August 21;50(8):795–8. * Lawrie GM. Mitral valve: toward complete repairability. Surg Technol Int. 2006;15:189–97. * Lawrie GM, Earle EA, Earle NR. Feasibility and intermediate term outcome of repair of prolapsing anterior mitral leaflets with artificial chordal replacement in 152 patients. Ann Thorac Surg. 2006 Mar;81(3):849–56; discussion 856. * Talwalkar NG, Earle NR, Earle EA, Lawrie GM. Mitral valve repair in patients with low left ventricular ejection fractions: early and late results. Chest. 2004 Sep;126(3):709–15.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrie, Gerald M. 1945 births Living people American people of Australian descent American surgeons Australian surgeons People educated at Scots College (Sydney) Sydney Medical School alumni