Performed world’s first lung transplant in 1983 and the first successful double-lung transplant in 1988.

A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard, Dr. Cooper graduated with honors from Harvard Medical School and completed his chief residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1972. His training included the Southwest Regional Thoracic Unit in Bristol, England as a Senior registrar and a research fellowship in pulmonary physiology with Dr. John West at the Hammersmith Hospital in London. After serving as head of Thoracic Surgery for ten years as a member of the faculty of the University of Toronto, Canada, Dr. Cooper joined the faculty of Washington University as head of General Thoracic Surgery in 1988 and was appointed to his current position in 1997.

In 1983, the team headed by Dr. Cooper in Toronto performed the world’s first successful lung transplant. In 1986, the same team performed the world’s first successful double lung transplant. In 1993, Dr. Cooper and colleagues presented their results on a new operation known as lung volume reduction surgery, designed to improve the breathing capacity of a patient suffering from severe emphysema. In 1996, Dr. Cooper received the Jacobson Innovation Award from the American College of Surgeons in recognition of his innovations in the field of lung transplantation and emphysema surgery.