He's all heart

Dr. Albert Starr’s work at St. Vincent Medical Center puts him in company of ‘wise men’

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, May 10, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Jonathan House / Times Newspapers

Dr. Albert Starr will join other "wise men" in Greece to discuss the future of cardiac care.

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Dr. Albert Starr is being asked to predict the future of cardiovascular surgery.

As a pioneer of the field and inventor of the world’s first successful artificial heart valve, Starr is one of only two cardiovascular surgeons in the United States to be invited to participate this weekend in an international consortium in Greece.

Starr leads the Providence Heart and Vascular Institute based at St. Vincent Medical Center.

Beginning today, Starr will participate in the Symposium of Seven Wise Men of the World in Cardiovascular Surgery.

Modeled after ancient Greek symposiums, Starr and six other participants in the two round-table discussions in Athens and Delphi will discuss their experiences and knowledge about the progress that’s been made in their field of expertise and the opportunities that lay ahead.

“The specialized field of cardiovascular surgery has made rapid and spectacular progress in the last 50 years,” said Dr. Christos Lolas of the event’s organizing committee.

“This progress is not only due to intelligent, gifted surgeons, pioneers in research and the implementation of new methods, but also to great masters – specialized wise men – who have taught younger generations of surgeons internationally and have had an impact on societies worldwide.”

Starr looks forward to the opportunity to share his insight with the other six “wise men,” including Alain Carpentier, Denton Cooley, Adib Jatene, Donald Ross, Juro Wada and Magdhi Yaccoub.

“I would like to hear what the other guys have to say,” Starr said. “We’re supposed to predict the future, and that’s very hard to do.

“The future frequently has some roots in the past and there’s always the chance that we may take the wrong branch. I do have some ideas.”

In his role as the director of academic affairs and bioscience development for Providence Health Systems, Starr has been able to rotate through various medical specialties to observe a major trend emerging in medicine to treat complicated diseases with multidisciplinary teams.

“This is an important trend that started out with heart transplantation,” Starr said. “Now it’s being used in other situations.”

He also sees technology and practices used in other medical disciplines being modified for treatment of heart and vascular ailments.

“In the big picture, I think there will be less-invasive surgeries using catheter-based technology and hybrid technology,” he said. “Another trend would be incorporating cellular therapy in cardiac surgery.

“Delivering cellular material could be a really new event in surgery. I can see surgeons using stem cells or their products or both. Instead of implanting a mechanical device, a surgeon might be implanting biological devices to accomplish certain functions.”

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