Leonard Lee Bailey (1942–2019) was an American surgeon who garnered international media attention in 1984 for transplanting a baboon's heart into a human infant.
Bailey was born on August 28, 1942, in
Takoma Park, Maryland
Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea ...
. In 1964, he graduated from
Columbia Union College, and he earned a medical degree from
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools
and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...
, School of Medicine in 1969. During the 1970s, during his residency at
Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, Bailey observed that many children died from congenital heart diseases. This led him to return to Loma Linda University in 1976 as assistant professor at the School of Medicine. There he performed more than 200 experimental heart transplants on young mammals so he could see if there was the possibility of transplantation in young mammals.
On October 26, 1984, Bailey and his team at
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) is a teaching hospital in California's Inland Empire region. Opened in 1905, it is a level 1 trauma center and is staffed by nearly 900 faculty physicians and over 1,000 beds.
The main tower of the ...
transplanted a baboon's heart into
Baby Fae, as she became known to the media. Baby Fae died 21 days later, at age 32 days. Her case is still discussed to this day. Though supported by many, the procedure caused a lot of controversy because it was considered unethical. When asked why he had picked a baboon over a primate more closely related to humans in evolution, Bailey replied, "I don't believe in evolution."
In 1988, Bailey received the
American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award presented by Awards Council member
Michael DeBakey
Michael Ellis DeBakey (September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008) was an American general and cardiovascular surgeon, scientist and medical educator who became Chairman of the Department of Surgery, President, and Chancellor of Baylor College of Medi ...
at a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bailey became recognized for transplantation and all types of pediatric and infant-open heart surgeries.
Bailey died on May 12, 2019, of neck and throat cancer.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Leonard Lee
American Seventh-day Adventists
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Physicians from Maryland
20th-century American surgeons
1942 births
2019 deaths
People from Takoma Park, Maryland
Loma Linda University alumni
American transplant surgeons
Deaths from throat cancer in California
Washington Adventist University alumni