Alexandre Linhares Furtado

Nº OF MEETING: IV

Alexandre José Linhares Furtado was born in Fajã de Baixo, São Miguel Island, Azores, on August 22, 1933.

He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra with the final grade of 19 out of 20. He received a doctorate from the same university on February 26, 1965 with the dissertation “Experimental Liver Regeneration –Some Surgical Aspects,” whichreceived thegrade “very good with distinction and praise.”

Linhares Furtado began his job as the head of the Urology Service at the University Hospital of Coimbra withthe goal of starting kidney transplants, fulfilling this dream in only two years.In June 1969, surprising the Portuguese medical community, he carried out the first kidney transplantin Portugal. The kidney was harvest from a living donor.

He was also responsible for the introduction of complementary or neoadjuvant medical therapies in oncology. The neoadjuvant hormone therapy in prostate cancer also deserves a special reference sinceit allows the downstaging of the disease, which can madethis therapy indicated for radical curative prostate surgery.Under his leadership, the Urology Service of the University Hospital of Coimbra also became equipped with a Dialysis Unit.

On June 29, 1980, Linhares Furtado and his team performed the first harvest of kidneys from a corpseat the University Hospital of Coimbra and, on the following day, the first kidney transplant from a corpse with great success.

Also in the field of liver transplants, the pediatric liver transplant program that he helped to implement stands out, as it quickly established itself nationwide and led to the expansion and optimization of new techniques for transplants worldwide.