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Egypt’s Cardiac Surgeon Waleed Hassanein Named Finalist for European Inventor Award

April 25, 2017

Egypt’s cardiac surgeon Waleed Hassanein has been named a finalist for the European Inventor Award for his pioneering method to preserve vital functions of donor organs prior to reaching transplant recipients. Hassanein’s process principally relies on surrounding the donor organs in conditions similar to the human body. This method has already been used in over 800 organ transplants and boosts rates of success. The European Patent Office (EPO) has named Hassaenin a finalist for the European Inventor award in the “Non-EPO countries” category for his significant achievement. Hassanein began working on his invention, Organ Care System (OCS), when he was a resident doctor at Georgetown University in the early 1990s. He was shocked to see a life-saving organ being placed in a cold storage. “When I saw a human heart, the organ I was trained to protect, being placed in what was essentially a picnic cooler, I knew there had to be a better way,” said Hassanein. The Egyptian cardiac surgeon started his journey by experimenting with keeping the organs in a warm environment and surrounding them with nutrient-rich blood. OCS originally used to store human hearts. However, it can…


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