Dr. Samuel Kountz: Pioneer in organ transplantation

Dr. Samuel Kountz: Pioneer in organ transplantation

The medical profession will be forever enhanced by the contributions of the Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz. The Lexa native and AM& N (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) graduate performed the first kidney transplant between a recipient and a donor who were not identical twins. This single achievement guaranteed his status as a pioneer in surgery. During his lifetime, Dr. Kountz performed more than 500 kidney transplants. In 1965, he performed the first renal transplant in Egypt as a visiting Fulbright professor in the United Arab Republic. While director of the transplant service at the University of California at San Francisco, Kountz made the breakthrough observation that high doses of a certain steroid hormone arrested the rejection of transplanted kidneys. This discovery led directly to the current drug regimens that make organ transplants using donations from unrelated donors routine.