May 12, 2006

MGH honors cardiologist DeSanctis with portrait

Friends, family and colleagues of Roman DeSanctis, MD, gathered to honor the longtime MGH cardiologist at a portrait unveiling May 2 in the Yawkey Center's Satter Conference room. The painting — commissioned by former MGH General Director and Glaxo Inc. chairman Charles Sanders, MD — is only the second portrait of an MGH cardiologist to be commissioned since the division was founded in 1914.

With personal stories and professional plaudits, several MGH leaders spoke about DeSanctis' distinguished career. G. William Dec, MD, chief of Cardiology, praised DeSanctis as the "preeminent academic cardiologist" in the United States and noted that it was fitting that his portrait would follow that of Paul Dudley White, MD, the first chief of the MGH Cardiac Division, renowned as the "father of cardiology."

Surgeon-in-Chief emeritus and former Massachusetts General Physicians Organization chief executive officer Gerald Austen, MD, recalled a friendship that began at Harvard Medical School, drawing laughs from the crowded conference room with an account of how he came to be DeSanctis' godfather at the age of 25. In his remarks, Sanders described DeSanctis' unfailing medical excellence and generosity, whether caring for a famous patient's complex cardiac disease or a Boston neighbor's painful toe.

DeSanctis' portrait was painted by John Ennison, and will be installed on the eighth floor of the Bigelow Building, near Dec's office and on the same wall as the portrait of White. The location also is outside the entrance to the Cardiac Fellows Office — a fitting tribute to a physician who has played an integral role in teaching and training the MGH's cardiologists for the last half-century.

"I am extremely honored by this gift," DeSanctis said of the portrait. "It has been a privilege to take part in the extraordinary advances in cardiology that have taken place at the MGH in the past 50 years, and it means a great deal to me to be recognized in this way."

Austen, right, with DeSanctis and his portrait