Giancarlo Rastelli, M.D. was a Mayo Clinic physician (born ca.1934). He died of cancer in 1970 at the age of 36. He was educated in Italy and came to the Mayo Clinic in 1960. At the age of 34 he was appointed head of cardiovascular surgical research. He developed the Rastelli 1 and 2 procedures and is credited with saving the lives of numerous children with heart disease. Awarded 2 gold medals by the American Medical Association, he did a great deal of his research while suffering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Rastelli has been suggested for beatification by the former Bishop of the Diocese of Winona Bernard Harrington. Bishop Silvio Bonicelli of Italy is leading the effort to have Rastelli canonized.
-Mayo Clinic