Eugene Braunwald, 'father of modern cardiology,' told me he had two dreams. One came true

Summary: Eugene Braunwald, known as the "father of modern cardiology," recently passed away at 96. He completely changed how doctors treat heart attacks. Before his work, doctors thought a heart attack destroyed heart muscle instantly, like flipping off a light switch. Braunwald proved it happens slowly, like turning down a dimmer switch. This meant doctors actually had time to save the heart by quickly restoring blood flow. He also created the "ejection fraction" test, which is used every day to measure how well a patient's heart pumps blood.

Braunwald had a second, wilder dream: to build a giant medical campus in Boston to rival the massive one in Texas. While standing on a hospital roof in a strong breeze, he imagined taking over a nearby private girls' school to build it, though this dream never came true. His career also hit a major bump when a young doctor in his lab was caught faking research data on dogs. It was a huge national scandal, but Braunwald bounced back. He created a massive research group that has since tested heart treatments on 450,000 people, leaving behind a legacy that has extended millions of lives.

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