Dr. Laks grew up in South Africa and graduated with honors
from Witwatersaand Medical School in Johannesburg. He went on to do his
general surgery residency and chief residency in cardiothoracic surgery at
Harvard’s two teaching hospitals, Brigham and Women’s and Children’s
Hospital in Boston. “The five years in Boston were years of incredibly hard
work filled with great expectations and possibilities. Early in my
surgical residency, I decided to do cardiothoracic surgery because it was a
specialty which brought together physiology, cardiology and the surgeon’s
technical skills to achieve outstanding results.” Dr. Laks went on to
become the Director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Yale University before being
recruited by UCLA School of Medicine.
In 1984, Dr. Laks established the UCLA
Adult and Pediatric Heart, Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program. As the
Director, he has watched the heart transplant program become the largest in the
nation. Dr. Laks also began the UCLA pediatric mechanical assist device program
which has become one of the largest of its kind. He performs heart transplants
on newborns to the elderly and has donated his skill and support to children
worldwide traveling to Russia, Peru, Thailand, Saudia Arabia and many other
countries to perform complex heart surgery. Children from around the globe
travel to UCLA to benefit from Dr. Laks' exceptional surgical talent.
Dr. Laks is internationally recognized for his
creative surgical approaches to complex heart disease and his willingness to
undertake the most challenging cases. He has pioneered many surgical
procedures worldwide; recently developing a technique to use Gore-Tex patches to
reinforce the wall of severely enlarged hearts. His groundbreaking
preservation techniques for donor hearts have extended the length of time that
hearts can be preserved, allowing us to use long distance and marginal hearts.
Dr. Laks is the Principal Investigator in UCLA’s Total Artificial Heart
Program and will soon implant an artifical heart in a patient, otherwise without
hope. Recently, Mayor Riordan honored Dr. Laks with the “Treasure of Los
Angeles Award” for his dedication and commitment to patients. He is also
the recipient of the American Heart Association Award for Outstanding
Achievements in Cardiovascular Surgery.
Dr. Laks prodigious research publications include
over 300 articles in medical journals, numerous abstracts and many chapters in
textbooks. His research projects include gene therapy for cardiac
allograft rejection, assist devices, the total artificial heart and organ
preservation. “I am very excited about the potential for permanent
implantable devices and the artificial heart which will change the entire
treatment for severe heart failure. As these new devices become available,
they will save thousands of lives. UCLA will be at the forefront, as one
of the centers that will take part in the Total Artificial Heart Program in
2001.”
Enjoying a broad range of outside interests, Dr. Laks
loves to go horseback riding, scuba diving, and is also an avid jogger.
He is a skilled artist and writes fiction as well.
A passionate humanitarian, he lends his time and support to many causes.
His daughter, Ellie, has inherited his passion and is an ardent animal
advocate, working to further the humane treatment of animals in our society.
His son, Dan, is a talented musician who is the originator and leader of
the musical group, Birdsaw, and son, Ilan, is an accomplished contemporary
artist and video producer.
A relentless worker, Dr. Laks is typically in the hospital from 7:00AM to well after 10:00PM. He is a member of Young Israel of Beverly Hills Synagogue and attributes his high level of endurance to his “observance of the Sabbath, which gives me the opportunity to renew contact with the Creator. I am able to read and study works outside of medicine to find the spiritual strength for the coming week.”