George Berci (né Bleier; 14 March 1921 – 30 August 2024) was a Hungarian-American surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, United States and a pioneer in minimally invasive surgeries. He developed instruments for laparoscopic surgery[1] that have been incorporated into minimally invasive surgery techniques used today.[2][3][4]
George Berci | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gyorgy Bleier 14 March 1921 |
| Died | 30 August 2024 (aged 103) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of Szeged |
| Medical career | |
| Field | Surgery |
| Institutions | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center |
| Research | Laparoscopy |
Background
editBerci was born as Gyorgy Bleier in Szeged, Hungary on 14 March 1921,[5][6] and spent time in both Hungary and Austria as a boy. He became a Jewish conscripted laborer for the Hungarians in 1942 and narrowly escaped deportation to Auschwitz in 1944 on a train near Budapest. He made his way to Budapest and worked for the Hungarian underground until World War II ended. He lost his father and grandfather in the Holocaust, but his mother survived. Berci wanted to become a musician, but his mother insisted that he become a doctor.[7] He graduated from medical school at the University of Szeged in 1950 and took a position as a surgeon at the University Hospital in Budapest.[8] By then, he changed his surname to Berci.[5]
Berci turned 100 in March 2021,[9] and died from complications of COVID-19 in Los Angeles, on 30 August 2024, at the age of 103.[10][11]
Career
editIn 1956, when the Hungarian Revolution took place, Berci was one of six doctors awarded a two-year Rockefeller Fellowship and he went to Melbourne, Australia.[3][12] In 1962, he developed the first miniature camera to use with an endoscope, which contributed to the development of video endoscopy.[3] In the early 1960s, he performed some of the first fluoroscopic cholangiograms in the world.[3] He was recruited in 1967 to move to Los Angeles and join Cedars-Sinai as a visiting scholar in the Department of Surgery.[2][13] Three years into his time at Cedars-Sinai, he became the director of the multidisciplinary surgical endoscopy unit.[3][7] In 1989, he and John Hunter started national surgical training courses to ensure that surgeons were performing the techniques correctly.[14] He served as the president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons in 1992.[3] In 2012, Berci opened the George Berci Surgical Training and Research Laboratory of Department of Surgical Research and Techniques in Budapest, Hungary.[15] He published more than 200 research papers and published textbooks and chapters on endoscopic surgery.[3][16]
References
edit- ^ Clare, Erin (20 June 2013). "Merci, Dr. Berci". Baltimore Jewish Times. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ a b "The Incredible Life of Dr. George Berci". AFIPO. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Pioneering Work of George Berci MD". www.generalsurgerynews.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Steinberger, Rebecca (30 October 2013). "Dr. George Berci: Beyond the scope". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ a b Sandomir, Richard (15 September 2024). "Dr. George Berci, Whose Innovations Changed Surgery, Dies at 103". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Survivor: George Berci". 24 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Dr. George Berci: Holocaust Survivor and Surgical Pioneer". Cedars-Sinai. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "George Berci, MD, Celebrates 100th Birthday". Cedars-Sinai.edu.
- ^ Cedars-Sinai Doctor Celebrates 100th Birthday on the Job
- ^ A Tribute: George Berci, MD, 1921–2024
- ^ "George Berci obituary: pioneer of endoscopic surgery". The Times. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ^ "George Berci, MD, FACS, Recipient of 2011 Jacobson Innovation Award". American College of Surgeons. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "SPECIAL REPORT: Dr. George Berci". Los Angeles Business Journal. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "The Pioneering Work of George Berci, MD". Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ ""George Berci" Surgical Training and Research Laboratory". semmelweis.hu. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Morgenstern, Leon (December 2005). "Instrumental from the Start: George Berci, MD, FACS, FRCS, ED (Hon)". Surgical Innovation. 12 (4): 297–8. doi:10.1177/155335060501200402. PMID 16424949. S2CID 35120125.