Dr. Cy Vaughn was the first surgeon in the world to implant an artificial heart as treatment for heart transplant rejection. His use of the unapproved Phoenix Heart in 1985 ignited a global firestorm of ethical controversy that was chronicled in the national and international press. Under intensive FDA investigation, he avowed, “I answer to a higher power than the FDA.” The pioneering Phoenix Heart implementation validated the use of the artificial heart as a bridge to transplantation and helped shaped the future of cardiac replacement.

Dr. Vaughn lives in Phoenix with his wife, Barbara, and is working on his next novel.