Pierre Grondin

Pierre Grondin, born on 18 August 1925 and dead on 17 January 2006, was a Canadian cardiac surgeon known for his contributions to heart transplantation and cardiac surgery. He took his medical degree at the Université Laval in 1951, gained a specialist's certificate in cardiac surgery and a fellowship of the American College of Surgeons in 1960, and trained in Houston with Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley. At the Montreal Heart Institute he introduced open-heart surgery with the heart-lung machine and coronary artery bypass surgery, and in May 1968 he performed Canada's first successful heart transplant there. He headed the institute's surgery department from 1963 to 1975, later led cardiothoracic surgery at St. Francis Hospital in Miami Beach, and started a cardiac surgery program at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Quebec City before retiring in 1995. He received the Prix Lenègre and the Order of Canada medal.