Samuel kountz biography

Samuel Lee Kountz Jr. (October 30, 1930 – December 23, 1981) was an.
Samuel Lee Kountz was a physician and pioneer in organ transplantation, particularly renal transplant research and surgery.
Renowned surgeon and pioneer in organ transplants, Samuel Lee Kountz was born on August 20, 1930 to Samuel Kountz, Sr. and Emma Montague in Lexa, Arkansas.

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Dr. Samuel L. Kountz

UAMS Alumnus and Pioneering Transplantation Surgeon

Timothy G. Nutt

Of the hundreds of prominent graduates of the UAMS College of Medicine in its nearly 150-year history, Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz stands out for his work as a pioneering kidney transplantation surgeon. Born in the Mississippi Delta, Kountz grew up during the Jim Crow era of segregation. Despite this, Kountz became one of the world’s most respected physicians before his untimely illness and death.

Kountz was born in the small Southeast Arkansas town of Lexa (Phillips County) in 1930, the eldest son of Rev. J. S. and Susie Kountz, a Baptist preacher and farmer, and a midwife, respectively. Kountz attended a one-room segregated school in Lexa and, for a brief time, boarded at a Baptist school in the town. Ultimately, he graduated from Morris Booker High School in nearby Dermott (Desha County) in 1948. That same year, he applied to Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College (AM&N; now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), but he failed the entrance examination. AM&N P

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Brought to Light

In honor of Black History Month, we’re recognizing Dr. Samuel Kountz, pioneering kidney transplant surgeon.

Samuel Kountz, MD (1930-1981) was born in Lexa, Arkansas and attended the Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas Medical School. He received surgical training at Stanford Medical Center and later became a faculty member at Stanford.

In 1967, Kountz joined the UCSF faculty and became head of the Kidney Transplant Service. During his time at UCSF, Kountz performed numerous kidney transplant surgeries, discovered more effective drug techniques, and advocated for increased organ donations and funding for transplant surgery research. Additionally, Kountz and his colleague, Dr. Folkert Belzer, developed a perfusion preservation machine that allowed organs to remain viable for much longer than previously possible, a major development in the field. Under Kountz’s leadership, the Kidney Transplant Service at UCSF became one of the most respected programs in the world.

Kountz worked to increase diversity on campu

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Samuel L. Kountz

Samuel L. Kountz
Born	October 20, 1930 Lexa, Arkansas, United States
Died	December 23, 1981 Great Neck, N.Y.
Alma mater	Stanford University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Known for	Kidney Transplantation, Pioneering Kidney Research, discoveries, and inventions
Awards	Fulbright Award
Scientific career
Fields	Kidney Transplantation
Institutions	Stanford University Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital

Samuel Lee Kountz Jr. (October 30, 1930 – December 23, 1981) was an African-American kidney transplantationsurgeon from Lexa, Arkansas. He was most distinguished for his pioneering work in the field of kidney transplantations, and in research, discoveries, and inventions in Renal Science. In 1961, while working at the Stanford University Medical Center, he performed the first successful Kidney transplant between humans who were not identical twins. Six years later, he and a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco,