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Willem Johan Kolff | Medical pioneer, 97

Willem Johan Kolff, 97, a pioneer in the fields of kidney dialysis and artificial organs, has died.

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Willem Johan Kolff, 97, a pioneer in the fields of kidney dialysis and artificial organs, has died.

Dr. Kolff's son Jack said he died of natural causes Wednesday at a Philadelphia care center.

Dr. Kolff was part of a team of surgeons who made worldwide headlines in 1982 by implanting an artificial heart into Seattle dentist Barney Clark at University Hospital in Salt Lake City. Clark lived for four months, then died with the heart still functioning.

In 2002, Dr. Kolff received the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, one of the highest honors in American medicine, for his work on kidney dialysis.

The nominating committee noted that his developments "changed kidney failure from a fatal to a treatable disease, prolonging the useful lives of millions of patients."

Dr. Kolff's work on the artificial heart began in 1957 at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. In 1967, he became head of the division of artificial organs at the University of Utah and director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

   - AP