Gibbon, John Heysham (1903–1973)

US surgeon who invented the heart–lung machine in 1953. It has become indispensable in heart surgery, maintaining the circulation while the heart is temporarily inactivated.

Gibbon was born in Philadelphia. He was educated at Princeton University in 1923, then at Jefferson Medical College in 1927. After an internship at Pennsylvania Hospital, he became fellow in surgery at Harvard Medial School (1930–34), then a fellow in surgical research at the University of Pennsylvania (1936–42). After World War II, he became professor of surgery and director of surgical research at Jefferson Medical College.