Joel D. Cooper, M.D., the Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery and chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, has been awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which is internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities in surgery.
Cooper was presented this distinction in a recent ceremony at the Royal College Headquarters in London.
Cooper’s extensive accomplishments in lung surgery include leading the team that performed the first successful lung transplant in the world in 1983, and then leading the first successful double lung transplant in 1986. He also pioneered a procedure called lung-volume reduction surgery, in which surgical removal of the most-damaged portions of the lung dramatically improve quality of life for patients with severe emphysema.