David Lederman
Born
David Mordechai Lederman

(1944-05-26)May 26, 1944
Bogota, Colombia
DiedAugust 15, 2012(2012-08-15) (aged 68)
Marblehead, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materCornell University
Occupation(s)Scientist, researcher, entrepreneur

David M. Lederman was an American aerospace engineer, entrepreneur, author, and humanitarian. He is noted for founding Abiomed, the company that developed AbioCor, the first fully implantable artificial heart.

Biography

Lederman was born in Bogota, Colombia[1] to Israel Joseph Lederman and Rifka Lederman on May 26, 1944. His parents were immigrants who escaped the Nazis in Poland.[2] He went to Colegio Americano and Universidad de Los Andes before his family moved to the United States in 1964.[2] He completed his bachelor’s degree in engineering at Cornell University, where he also obtained his Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and Doctoral degree in Laser Physics and Aerospace Engineering.[1]

Career

After graduation, Lederman went back to Colombia to work as an associate professor and director of the Universidad de Los Andes’ biomedical research department.[2] In 1974, he relocated to the U.S. and worked for Avco Everett Research Laboratory.[2] In this company, he was a senior research scientist working on cardiac assist technology. In 1979, he was appointed the chair of the company’s Medical Research Committee.[2]

Lederman led a team that worked on biotechnology that extended the lives of patients awaiting heart transplants.[3] This produced a ventricular assist device (VAD) described as a sac-type assist machine called the AVCO LVAD.[4] This would later become the ABIOMED BVS 5000.[4] In 1981, he founded Applied Biomedical Corp. with the aim of developing the first artificial heart. The company went public in 1987. Lederman headed it as CEO until 2004, when he was replaced by Michael Minogue.[5]

During the early 2000s, Pedersen headed the research team that developed AbioCor, a completely implantable pump.[6] Although pulsatile, the device had no air compressor and was capable of recharging itself wirelessly and sending messages through the skin.[6] Prior to this development, its predecessor - the Jarvik-7 - was only partially implantable and required connections to external devices.[7] The US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of AbioCor in 2009.[8] Outside of medical experiments, this was the first time regulators allowed the mechanical replacement of hearts for human patients.[8]

In 2005, after 24 years as CEO of Abiomed, Lederman retired as president and chairman of the board. He published his research and gave lectures around the world.[1] He was also known for his humanitarian activities. He funded, for instance, an initiative that supported Israeli children from Sderot while the town sustained a missile attack coming from the Gaza Strip.[1]

On August 15, 2012, he died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Marblehead, Massachusetts. His death is said to have played a role in AbioMed’s decision to abandon the production and further development of AbioCor.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Szaniszlo, Marie (2012-08-18). "Abiomed founder dead at 68". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Engineering, National Academy of (2015-10-06). Memorial Tributes: Volume 19. National Academies Press. ISBN 978-0-309-37721-8.
  3. ↑ Hevesi, Dennis (2012-08-29). "David Lederman, Pioneer of Artificial Heart, Dies at 68". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. 1 2 Karimov, Jamshid H.; Fukamachi, Kiyotaka; Starling, Randall C. (2020). Mechanical Support for Heart Failure: Current Solutions and New Technologies. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. p. 11. ISBN 978-3-030-47808-7.
  5. ↑ Muller, Madison (November 1, 2022). "Johnson & Johnson is paying $17.3 billion to buy a company that helps your heart pump blood". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  6. 1 2 Swartz, Mimi (2018). Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart. Crown. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-8041-3801-7.
  7. ↑ "Abiomed founder, cardiovascular pioneer, dies of cancer". MassDevice. August 20, 2012. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  8. 1 2 Feder, Barnaby (2006-09-07). "An Innovative Heart Device Is Still Short of Lucrative (Published 2006)". Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  9. ↑ Tesler, Ugo Filippo (2020-01-02). A History of Cardiac Surgery: An Adventurous Voyage from Antiquity to the Artificial Heart. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 439. ISBN 978-1-5275-4248-8.
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