Lives of Consequence
Dr. Steven J. Phillips '62
A world-renowned cardiac surgeon, Dr. Steven J. Phillips pioneered techniques for emergency coronary bypass surgery for evolving heart attacks and co-founded the Iowa Heart Center, which has grown to more than 60 physicians who specialize in cardiovascular care and performs more than 10,000 cardiac interventions annually. He also established the Disaster Information Management Research Center, which is devoted to disaster informatics. Phillips currently serves as the director of specialized information services and associate director of the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He developed and funded the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University. During the past 30 years his team implanted the first artificial heart in Iowa, performed the first heart transplant in central Iowa, and invented the technology for percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass. His research has been published in more than 125 medical publications and he has been granted six patents, including ones for the left ventricular assist pump, the internal mammary retractor, the valve-suture holder, the ventricular device cannulae, the magneto hydrodynamic pump and the bicycle pedal foot holder. A member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine from 1993 to 1997, he served as board chair in 1997. From 1999 to 2000, he served as deputy to the director for research and education at the National Library of Medicine. Phillips founded and served as chief medical officer of Cardiovascular Hospitals of America, LLC, and serves as a principal adviser to the chair for medical affairs by GSI Securitization, Ltd. Serving twice in Vietnam, Phillips retired from the U. S. Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel. He is a life member of the 101st Airborne Association and an associate life member of the UDT/SEAL Association. He is past president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, Society of Cardiac Surgeons of Spain, and of the Polk County Medical Society, Iowa. Phillips received a bachelor's in biology and chemistry from Hobart College and a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. In 2012, he was named by Tufts University as one of three recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, which is presented to an alumnus who has made significant achievements to his profession and community and is noted for inspiring students.