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By David Zisser

Daily Bruin contributor

dzisser@media.ucla.edu

  Dr. Hillel Laks, a UCLA professor and one of the most renowned surgeons in the world, received an award from the American Heart Association July 27.

UCLA professor and heart surgeon Hillel Laks is no ordinary doctor. His colleagues regard him as energetic, talented, innovative, the best – even a genius.

Considered one of the best cardiac surgeons in the country, Laks is internationally known for his creative surgical approaches to complex heart disease.

Laks was honored with the Excellence in Cardiovascular Surgery Advancement award on Saturday, July 27, by the American Heart Association at the American Heart Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

“He is a fabulous surgeon, yet approachable to the patients that he serves,” said Mark Rieck, executive director of the AHA of Los Angeles County.

“He runs an incredible program at UCLA, and we’re delighted to honor him,” he added.

Laks however, does not take full credit for the recognition.

“The award for any achievement in surgery is really reflected on a whole team of people,” he said.

In his acceptance speech, Laks thanked his team of surgeons and administrators at UCLA, whom he credited for enabling him to focus on patient care above all else.

One such patient was Marc Ostrick, on whom Laks performed open heart surgery in December 2000. Ostrick was struck by how kind and reassuring Laks was prior to his operation.

“I got to meet him 20 minutes before they cracked me open,” Ostrick said. “He assured me that everything was gonna be OK ... holding my hand the whole time.”

“There’s a lot of mystique associated with being a heart surgeon. They’re touching your soul in a way,” Ostrick added.

Laks has consistently demonstrated this commitment to patient care since joining UCLA in 1982 as chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery.

He is unique because unlike most surgeons, Laks handles both pediatric and adult cases, and both heart and lung transplants.

In 1984, he founded the heart transplant program at UCLA and in 1986, he started the UCLA Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant program, the largest such program in the world.

Since then, he has started other programs at UCLA, including the UCLA Alternate Recipient Heart Transplant Program in 1992. The program allows patients who would not normally be considered for transplants to receive hearts that would otherwise not be used. To date, he and his staff have performed more than 75 such operations.

“Over the nearly 20 years that he’s been at UCLA, (Laks) has truly built a world class program in cardiothoracic surgery,” said UCLA Assistant Clinical Professor Mark Plunkett.

Laks’ reputation extends beyond UCLA since local hospitals often refer their patients to him.

Twyman Owens, chief of pediatric cardiology at Martin Luther King Hospital in South Central Los Angeles, claims to refer 20 to 30 patients to Laks every year.

“If my son or daughter were having heart surgery, I would definitely have Dr. Laks do it,” Owens said.

Laks’ pioneering work has won over the respect of his colleagues as a surgeon who expects much from those who train under him.

“He demands precision, he demands excellence, and he does not want anything less,” said Fardad Esmailian, associate professor of surgery at UCLA who trained under Laks.

Laks demands as much from his trainees as he does from himself: six- day work weeks, each day starting at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m.

When Laks is not busy working at the hospital, he contributes his skills abroad through humanitarian missions to countries including Russia, Peru, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

Next month, he plans on traveling to Vietnam to operate on children with congenital heart defects.

Laks believes he derives his sense of humanitarianism from his religion. An Orthodox Jew, he walked to the ceremony on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, since driving is prohibited. He has special permission from his rabbi to drive on Saturday in the case of an emergency.

“According to the Jewish religion, a doctor is a messenger,” Laks said.“It’s a God-given gift that human beings are able to treat disease and therefore one has to be the best messenger that one can,” he added.