Galletti, Pierre M.

Dr. Pierre M. Galletti, M.D., Ph.D., was University Professor, professor emeritus of medical science, and vice president emeritus at Brown University.

He was a former director of the Artificial Organ Laboratory at Brown University and former head of its Artificial Organs, Biomaterials and Cellular Technology group, which was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 1995.

Galletti came to Brown in 1967 as professor of medical science and the following year was appointed chairman of the new Division of Biological and Medical Sciences, the institutional incubator for Brown's medical school. In 1972, when Brown and a group of local hospitals committed themselves to a full M.D. program, Galletti became vice president and chief executive officer for the Division of Biology and Medicine. In 1991, he left the vice presidency to devote his time and attention to major research projects in biomaterials and artificial organs and to teaching and consulting appointments here and in Europe.

Galletti, a native of Switzerland, earned his M.D. from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1951 and his Ph.D., also from Lausanne, in 1954. His specialty was physiology and biophysics, a field now known as biomedical engineering. After a residency in internal medicine at the University Hospital in Zurich (1954-1957), he joined the research group of Dr. P. Salisbury at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, which operated one of the earliest programs in clinical hemodialysis and cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery. He joined the faculty of the Department of Physiology at Emory University in 1958, where he developed a graduate program and research laboratory devoted to physiological aspects of cardiorespiratory assistance and the theory and technology of artificial organs.

Galletti was the author of more than 250 works on the science and application of artificial organs and other organ replacement techniques. He was a co-inventor on seven U.S. patents. He was editor of the artificial organs and prostheses section of the Biomedical Engineering Handbook and co-author of its chapters on the artificial lung, kidney, liver and pancreas.

He was a former president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). In 1992, he was named a fellow in the College of Fellows of the AIMBE, an honor bestowed on only 2 percent of individuals active in the medical and biological engineering community.

Galletti was president, chief executive officer and chair of the scientific advisory committee of Fondazione per le Biotecnologie of Turin, Italy, a non-profit, public-private foundation dedicated to professional and public education on the use of biotechnology.

He was a director of SORIN BIOMEDICA, of Torino, Italy, and former chairman of its board and former director of its scientific advisory committee. He was also a director of SORIN BIOMEDICAL Inc., of Irvine, Calif. He was a member of the scientific advisory committee of I-STAT Inc., of Princeton, N.J., and CARDIOPULMONICS Inc. of Salt Lake City. He was chairman of the board of directors of INCStar Inc., Stillwater, Minn. He helped found CytoTherapeutics Inc. of Providence, R.I., and chaired its scientific advisory board.

Galletti served on several advisory groups for the National Institutes of Health, exploring issues involving artificial hearts, artificial kidneys and biomaterials.

He was outspoken about the need for public policy that would ensure availability of medical devices and implants for critically ill patients.

Galletti was a former president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs. He was a trustee of the International Society for Artificial Organs and was president of the organizing committee for its 11th annual world congress to be held in June in Providence.

He was a former editor of the journal Cardiology and the Journal of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs. He served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Artificial Organs, Clinical Biomaterials and Medical Engineering and Physics.

He was a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, foreign correspondent of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Brussels, an Honorary Foreign Associate of the Medical Academy of Turin and a corresponding member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.

He was a trustee of the Morehouse College School of Medicine in Atlanta and an overseer and chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee of the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

Galletti was born in Monthey, Switzerland, on June 11, 1927. He was 69 years old.

From the guide to the Pierre Galletti office files, Galetti (Pierre) office files, 1963-1990, (John Hay Library Special Collections)