David Coston Sabiston, Jr., M.D.,, F.A.C.S. (October 4, 1924 – January 26, 2009) was an early innovator in cardiac surgery. In 1962, he performed a seminal procedure that paved the way for modern coronary-bypass surgery, grafting a vein from a patient's leg to bypass a blocked coronary artery during open-heart surgery. The patient died from unrelated complications, but Sabiston's technique and other surgeons' improvements on it led to the development of surgical coronary revascularization as it exists today. Early years, education, and military service Sabiston was born to David C. Sabiston, Sr. and Frances Marie Sabiston (née Jackson) in Jacksonville, NC. He graduated with a B.S. degree in 1944 as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sabiston then attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, completing his M.D. degree as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society in 1947. After medical school, Sabiston spent two years as a Captain (O3) in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, posted at Walter Reed Medical Center, doing cardiovascular research. Career in thoracic surgery After his military service, Sabiston returned to Johns Hopkins University to complete his residency and fellowship training, under the direction of Alfred Blalock. In 1952, he was given an instructorship at Hopkins during his year as a Chief Resident, and then an assistant professorship in Surgery in 1953 with a joint appointment as an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 1961, Sabiston was granted a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Hospital for Sick Children and Nuffield Department of Surgery at the University of Oxford. Upon his return to the United States, Sabiston joined the Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, NC) in 1964 as James B. Duke Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery, a position he held for the next 32 years. Sabiston published almost 300 peer-reviewed papers on various facets of cardiothoracic surgery during his career, as well as over 35 books and many invited book chapters. One of those works, "Sabiston's Textbook of Surgery: the Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice," is now in its 20th edition, currently edited by Drs. Townsend, Beauchamp, Evers, and Mattox. It is still considered the definitive treatise on surgical practice. Early in his tenure in Durham, Sabiston helped to desegregate the surgical clinics and wards at the Duke University Hospital. Accolades and awards He