Mike Darwin

Michael G. ("Mike") Darwin, who is an American, was the president of the cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation from 1983 to 1988, and Research Director until 1992. He was also President of BioPreservation, Inc., and Director of Research of Twenty-First Century Medicine (a cryobiological/critical care medicine research company) from 1993 to 1999. Darwin is second only to Robert Ettinger as one of the most influential figures in the controversial field of cryonics. He is noted for his technical acumen and exceptional communication skills.

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Personal background

Born Michael Federowicz in Indianapolis, Indiana, his interest in evolution and rejection of creationism earned him the nickname "Darwin" among his schoolmates. Michael had a fascination with cryopreserving organisms as a young child. In 1967, at the age of twelve, he qualified for the Indiana state science fair with his project "Suspended Animation in Animals and Plants." He dreamed of becoming an astronaut and applying his research to space travel. His registration was lost and his project never judged, but he was given an honorable mention out of a sense of fair play. At the fair, however, he learned that a Dr. James Bedford had been frozen in California. This was the beginning of Darwin's life-long interest in cryonics.

Federowicz was able to contact the Cryonics Society of New York (CSNY) and was sent a considerable amount of literature by Saul Kent, who was to become a life-long patron of Michael's rapidly growing cryonics technical skills. At the age of 17 Michael was invited by Saul Kent to cryopreserve a cryonics patient for CSNY. When he began his career as a dialysis technician, Michael adopted "Darwin" as his surname for his cryonics persona, so as not to endanger his career by the association with cryonics.

Darwin and Stephen Bridge co-founded the Institute for Advanced Biological Studies (IABS) in Indianapolis in 1977, which merged with the then-California-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation in 1982.

Technical accomplishments

Darwin worked alongside UCLA cardiothoracic researcher Jerry Leaf during the 1980s, and physician Dr. Steven B. Harris in the 1990s to create many of the key technologies and practices of modern cryonics. He has also made notable contributions to mainstream medical research, such as the use of liquid fluorocarbon ventilation for accelerated cooling of the human body.[1] Darwin and Harris were able to resuscitate dogs without neurological damage following 17 minutes of warm ischemia (clinical death at normal body temperature) -- a world record which remains unmatched.

Although his only formal training was as a dialysis technician, he is a self-taught expert in the field of cerebral ischemia,[2] and a respected contributor to CCM-L, the international critical care medicine internet discussion group. In 2005 he was an invited co-author of a medical ethics article on the definition of death in the journal CRITICAL CARE.[3]

See also

• Life extension