For VUMC, modern cardiac surgery began in 1971, when the institution recruited three pivotal figures: Harvey Bender, MD, to ...

High-school-educated Vivien Thomas spent decades as a research assistant to renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Alfred Blalock. Yet Thomas made up for his lack of pedigree with talent.

The year was 1925, and Alfred Blalock was already a failure at age 26. The born-and-raised Georgian earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in 1918, then a medical doctorate ...

The year was 1925, and Alfred Blalock was already a failure at age 26. The born-and-raised Georgian earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia in 1918, then a medical doctorate from ...

Vivien Thomas was the ‘technician’ who helped Dr. Alfred Blalock and Dr. Helen Taussig develop the ‘blue baby’ operation at Johns Hopkins.

Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas had successfully pioneered an operation that would bring fame, glory -- and hundreds of sick babies and their desperate parents -- to Hopkins.

Thomas arrived at Hopkins in 1941, when he accompanied the legendary Alfred Blalock from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee his research assistant.

Dr. Alfred Blalock, a brash, egotistical Georgia native who in 1943 was named head of surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, changed that. But he wasn’t alone.

He was 19 years old. His job classification was janitor, but he quickly became the trusted assistant to the temperamental, ambitious surgeon Alfred Blalock, 32.

Opening in 1930, pic chronicles the relationship between headstrong surgeon Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and his African-American assistant, Vivien Thomas (Mos Def), who was instrumental in ...