[1] A documentary, entitled "Burden of Genius,"[2] covering the medical and scientific advances spearheaded by Starzl himself, was released to the public in 2017 in a series of screenings.

Starzl attended Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, where in 1950 he received a Master of Science degree in anatomy and in 1952 earned both a Ph.D. in neurophysiology and an M.D.

He wrote a seminal paper describing a technique to record the electrical responses of deep brain structures to sensory stimuli such as a flash of light or a loud sound.

[3] His autobiographical memoir, The Puzzle People, was named by The Wall Street Journal as the third best book on doctors' lives[8] and was written in three months.

)[1] Starzl has also received honorary degrees from 26 universities in the United States and abroad, which include 12 in Science, 11 in Medicine, 2 in Humane Letters, and 1 in Law.

[26] In 2006, at a celebration for his 80th birthday, the University of Pittsburgh renamed one of its newest medical research buildings the Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower in recognition of his achievements and contributions to the field.