The Lyon medical professor Jean-Michel Dubernard, one of the world pioneers in transplantation who performed in 1998 the first hand transplant in the world, died Saturday evening in Turkey, we learned from a relative.
Aged 80, the one who was also a deputy for the Rhône succumbed to a malaise, which occurred at Istanbul airport while he was traveling with his family, according to the same source confirming information from the regional daily
Le Progrès
.
To read also: Prof. Dubernard: "France is being overtaken by the United States"
Jean-Michel Dubernard made the world premiere of one hand, in 1998, on New Zealander Clint Hallam.
Two years later, he achieved a new feat with a bilateral hand and forearm transplant on Frenchman Denis Chatelier.
In 2005, he struck a new big planetary blow by participating in the first partial transplant of the face (the triangle formed by the nose and the mouth) on the French Isabelle Dinoire, disfigured by her dog.
In 2008, Jean-Michel Dubernard received the Medawar Prize which recognizes exceptional contributions in the field of transplantation.
Deputy mayor of Lyon from 1983 to 2001, under the mandates of Francisque Collomb, Michel Noir and Raymond Barre, he was also deputy of the Rhône from 1986 to 2007, under the label RPR then UMP.
See also -
Can we be transplanted again after rejection? Professor Maurice Mimoun's response