Alfred Blalock (April 5, 1899 – September 15, 1964) was an American surgeon most noted for his work on the medical condition of shock as well as tetralogy of Fallot – commonly known as blue baby syndrome.

[5] Shortly after, Blalock attended the University of Georgia as a sophomore undergraduate, skipping his freshman year.

He played tennis and golf, was a member of the Delta Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and was secretary and treasurer of his senior class.

He also completed one year of an assistant residency on the general surgical service (his contract was not renewed), and an externship in otorhinolaryngology.

[6] During his Vanderbilt years, Blalock spent much of his time in the surgical research laboratory, which he found both challenging and exciting.

Blalock's innovative research resulted in the saving of many lives on the battlefield during World War II.

[2] Blalock and Thomas carried out various experiments relating to shock and cardiac output, as well as developing a technique for adrenal transplantation.

While working together at Hopkins, Blalock and Thomas developed a shunt technique to bypass coarctation of the aorta.

Simultaneously, Helen Taussig, a cardiologist, presented to Blalock the problem of the blue baby syndrome - a congenital heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot which results in inadequate oxygenation of the blood.

After the innovative first completion of the surgery, Blalock became comfortable with the procedure and performed it on thousands of children, often with Thomas by his side.

With Edwards Park, he developed a bypass operation in 1944, and in 1948, with Rollins Hanlon, a cardiac surgeon, he created a technique for overcoming the transposition of the great blood vessels of the heart.

His colleague and lifelong friend Tinsley Harrison spoke about Blalock's ability to teach saying, "A teacher is an individual who has the capacity to influence the horizons of his pupils.

[5] In Blalock's later years he developed several health problems and eventually died in 1964 from metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the ureter.

[5] In 1954 Blalock received (with Robert Gross and Helen Taussig) the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award "For distinguished contributions to cardiovascular surgery and knowledge.

[14] In 2003, the PBS series American Experience premiered the Spark Media documentary "Partners of the Heart", which was about the collaboration between Blalock and Vivien Thomas at Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins University.

[15][16][17] The "Partners of the Heart" went on to win the Organization of American Historians' Erik Barnouw Award for Best History Documentary in 2004.