Alivizatos, Peter: - Peter A. Alivizatos, MD, was born into a Greek medical family with a long tradition of achieving recognition through public service. After his medical studies and a residency in general surgery, he embarked on long and arduous training in the USA-after England-in order to qualify for the boards in general surgery, as well as in thoracic surgery. It was during those years that he had the rare opportunity to work under three "giants" who made history: Dwight E. Harken, the father of cardiac surgery; Richard R. Lower, the true pioneer of heart transplantation; and Sir Magdi H. Yacoub, the Renaissance genius of our times in cardiac surgery and transplantation. In 1985, he assumed responsibility for starting heart transplantation at Baylor University Medical Center, and by the time he returned to Greece in 1996, the program had performed 233 heart, heart/lung, and lung transplants, including all the "firsts" in North Texas. He created a similar program on a smaller scale at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens, based on the principles and lessons learned at Baylor, achieving survival well above internationally reported rates.