© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Clin Transplant 2014: 28: 383 DOI: 10.1111/ctr.12349
Clinical Transplantation
Obituary
Carl Gustav Groth MD, PhD On February 16, 2014, Carl Gustav Groth passed away. He left behind a legacy of a pioneer, a giant in the field of organ transplantation. Dr. Groth was born in Helsingfors, Finland, 1933. His family moved to Sweden 11 yr later. He attended medical school at the Karolinska Institute, MD in 1961, where he also got his PhD in 1965. After having worked with Prof Curt Franksson, the Swedish Pioneer in kidney transplant and inventor of thoracic duct drainage, he was sent to work with Thomas Starzl in Denver 1966-68 as an NIH Post Doctoral Fellow. During this time in Denver, antithymocyte globulin was developed and its use enabled the first successful liver transplants in 1967. Dr. Groth was a key member of the team working with Starzl. After going back to Professor Franksson in Stockholm, he returned to Denver as Associate Professor of Surgery, continuing his work with Thomas Starzl, 1971–72. In 1973, he was called back to the Karolinska Institute as the Chief of Transplantation Surgery at the newly opened Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm. In 1983, a Department of Transplantation Surgery was formed at the Karoliska Institute where he was appointed Professor and Chairman. In 2000, he retired and remained as Professor Emeritus at the Karolinska until his demise. In 1986, he was appointed to the Nobel Assembly and became its chairman in 1998. In 1999, he retired from the Nobel Assembly. In 1998, he was recognized by the King of Sweden, receiving the H.M. the King’s Medal and the Serafimer Sasch for his contributions to transplant surgery. He received the Medawar Prize in 2006. As one of the pioneering surgeons, his interests encompassed virtually all aspects of transplant surgery, including kidney, liver, and bone marrow. However, pancreas, islets, and xenotransplantation were his burning interest. His work using fetal pig islets for human transplantation was a truly pioneering effort. His early involvement in the development and use of immunosuppression, thymoglobulin, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, etc., was widely recognized.
Carl Groth with the first three survivors, Denver 1967
Dr. Groth was a member of innumerable transplant societies. He was president of The Transplantation Society (2001–2002) and founding president of the Scandinavian Transplant Society, the International Pancreas and Islet Society, and the International Xenotransplant Association. He was a founding member of the European Society of Organ Transplantation. He was a honorary member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, American Surgical Association, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and the International Xenotransplant Association. In his private life, he was an avid sailor, competing in off-shore races, especially around the Baltic and in particular Gotland Runt, a yearly endeavor. He loved to spend time at his summer home in the Stockholm archipelago with his wife Birgit and their family. To quote Thomas Starzl: “In ancient times, Carl would have lain in state in an ignited Viking galley and floated to sea as the centerpiece of a funeral pyre.” Goran B. G. Klintmalm MD, PhD
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Clin Transplant 2014: 28: 383 DOI: 10.1111/ctr.12349
Clinical Transplantation
Obituary
Carl Gustav Groth MD, PhD On February 16, 2014, Carl Gustav Groth passed away. He left behind a legacy of a pioneer, a giant in the field of organ transplantation. Dr. Groth was born in Helsingfors, Finland, 1933. His family moved to Sweden 11 yr later. He attended medical school at the Karolinska Institute, MD in 1961, where he also got his PhD in 1965. After having worked with Prof Curt Franksson, the Swedish Pioneer in kidney transplant and inventor of thoracic duct drainage, he was sent to work with Thomas Starzl in Denver 1966-68 as an NIH Post Doctoral Fellow. During this time in Denver, antithymocyte globulin was developed and its use enabled the first successful liver transplants in 1967. Dr. Groth was a key member of the team working with Starzl. After going back to Professor Franksson in Stockholm, he returned to Denver as Associate Professor of Surgery, continuing his work with Thomas Starzl, 1971–72. In 1973, he was called back to the Karolinska Institute as the Chief of Transplantation Surgery at the newly opened Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm. In 1983, a Department of Transplantation Surgery was formed at the Karoliska Institute where he was appointed Professor and Chairman. In 2000, he retired and remained as Professor Emeritus at the Karolinska until his demise. In 1986, he was appointed to the Nobel Assembly and became its chairman in 1998. In 1999, he retired from the Nobel Assembly. In 1998, he was recognized by the King of Sweden, receiving the H.M. the King’s Medal and the Serafimer Sasch for his contributions to transplant surgery. He received the Medawar Prize in 2006. As one of the pioneering surgeons, his interests encompassed virtually all aspects of transplant surgery, including kidney, liver, and bone marrow. However, pancreas, islets, and xenotransplantation were his burning interest. His work using fetal pig islets for human transplantation was a truly pioneering effort. His early involvement in the development and use of immunosuppression, thymoglobulin, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, etc., was widely recognized.
Carl Groth with the first three survivors, Denver 1967
Dr. Groth was a member of innumerable transplant societies. He was president of The Transplantation Society (2001–2002) and founding president of the Scandinavian Transplant Society, the International Pancreas and Islet Society, and the International Xenotransplant Association. He was a founding member of the European Society of Organ Transplantation. He was a honorary member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, American Surgical Association, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and the International Xenotransplant Association. In his private life, he was an avid sailor, competing in off-shore races, especially around the Baltic and in particular Gotland Runt, a yearly endeavor. He loved to spend time at his summer home in the Stockholm archipelago with his wife Birgit and their family. To quote Thomas Starzl: “In ancient times, Carl would have lain in state in an ignited Viking galley and floated to sea as the centerpiece of a funeral pyre.” Goran B. G. Klintmalm MD, PhD
383
