Edward William Alton Ochsner

Edward William Alton Ochsner, always known as Alton Ochsner, was one of the first physicians to see a possible relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. In 1941, Michael Ellis DeBakey (born 1908) concluded that the increase in lung cancer was largely due to increased tobacco smoking. Michael Ellis DeBakey, still alive by July 2001, is a Physician and surgeon noted for his pioneering work in the field of cardiovascular surgery. Also credited with developing the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (M.A.S.H.) concept for the military.

Alton Ochsner obtained his medical degree from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1920 and became professor of surgery at Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1927. A paediatric residency program at the Tulane University School of Medicine and Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, now the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, are named for him. They have been integrated to offer an exceptional opportunity to develop competence in all aspects of health care for children.

• John Wilds and Ira Harkey:
  Alton Ochsner: Surgeon of the South. Louisiana State University Press, 1990.