Robert J. Corry, a Cleveland native, began his career at Yale University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1957. He then enrolled at Johns Hopkins University, graduating in 1961. After completing an internship in pediatrics and surgery at John Hopkins in 1963, Corry completed a residency and fellowship in surgery at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University. His academic career began at Harvard in 1968, where he was appointed assistant professor of surgery in 1972. In 1973, Corry went to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he joined the faculty of the University of Iowa College of Medicine as associate professor of surgery and became director of transplantation at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the VA Medical Center, Iowa City. In 1976, he was promoted to professor of surgery and in 1982, chief of surgery. He held both of these positions until he came to the University of Pittsburgh when he was recruited in 1994-5 by UPMC to head the pancreas transplant program. From 1999 to 2000, he was one of four vice presidents of the medical staff at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. Robert J. Corry performed the first combined liver and pancreas excision from a single donor and transplanted the organs into two recipients. He performed more than 350 pancreas transplantations, 180 kidney transplants and 50 liver transplants. He was a member of more than 30 professional societies and organizations, including the presidency of American Society of Transplant Surgeons (1986-87). He also served as president the United Network for Organ Sharing (1989-1990). From 1995 until his death on Feb. 11, 2002, Corry also served on the board of directors for the Pittsburgh chapter of the Transplant Recipients International Organization. Corry's research and clinical interests included exploring methods to control organ rejection and induce tolerance, identifying ways to expand the donor pool, such as using organs from older donors, and working to develop policies for broader sharing of pancreases within the United States.
From the description of Papers of Robert J. Corry, 1953-2001. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 69666065
