Kenneth Appell's Alma Mater: Manhattan College

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Kenneth Appell matriculated in 1939 at Manhattan College in the Riverdale section of the Bronx; it's a four-year Roman Catholic liberal arts institution, run in the tradition of the church's Lasallian order and founded in 1853 by the followers of 18th-century St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. Following a biology/pre-med major, his undergraduate studies were interrupted for four years by military sevice, and he finally graduated in 1947.

Dr. Kenneth Appell With Wife and Daughter, 1970

.Kenneth Appell enjoys breakfast in the summer of 1970 with his wife Marcy and daughter Ann, on the porch of their home on Aspinwall Road in the Linden Acres neighborhood of Red Hook, New York.

Dr. Kenneth Appell With Colleagues At Northern Dutchess Hospital

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Pictured in the 1990's, here Dr. Appell relaxes, post-surgery, with staff members at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, New York.

Very Young Kenneth With Grandparents and Sister

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Kenneth Appell at age four in 1927, during summer vacation at a rented cottage on Staten Island's south shore with his sister Florence and his grandparents Anton and Frances Bartunek, immigrants from Bohemia (then part of Czechoslovakia, today of the Czech Republic).

Hemodialysis Before Kenneth Appell Invented the AV Fistula

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These photos taken in 1964-65 at the Bronx VA Hospital's dialysis unit show the Kolff artificial kidney (invented in the early 1940's by Willem Kolff in the Netherlands -- interestingly, during the Nazi occupation of that country) used with the Scribner external shunt (developed by University of Washington faculty member Belding Scribner in 1960).

Kenneth Appell's Commendation from the Vascular Access Society of the Americas for Inventing the AV Fistula

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When Dr. Appell spoke at the New York City meeting of the Vascular Access Society of the Americas at the Veith Symposium on November 14, 2007, he was presented with a plaque signed by president A. Frederick Schild, M.D. and second vice president Larry A. Scher, M.D. It stated: "Honorary Membership is bestowed upon Kenneth C. Appell, M.D. for his pioneering efforts and landmark development as the surgeon who performed the first arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis access over forty years ago. His contributions have immeasurably benefitted countless patients undergoing treatment for end-stage renal disease."

Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, NY

.Northern Dutchess Hospital, pictured in August 2008. Dr. Kenneth Appell moved to the area from Westchester County with his wife and two young children in 1969. He eventually became Chief of Surgery and even in semi-retirement still regularly assists in the operating room today.

James Wing, MD, Kenneth Appell's Longtime Partner

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Based at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, New York, Jim Wing moved to the area and became Ken Appell's partner in 1988. Here he's pictured at his home in August 2008.

Kenneth Appell, AV Fistula Inventor, With Bronx VA Colleagues

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Kenneth C. Appell, the surgeon who invented the arteriovenous fistula, flanked by James Cimino, head of the Bronx VA Hospital's nephrology department, and dialysis team member Michael Brescia, in 1967.

AV Fistula Drawing, 1966

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Artist's rendering of Kenneth Appell's AV fistula, dated July 18, 1966.

AV fistula close-up, Bronx VA 1965

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A photo of one of the first AV fistulas ever performed, by Kenneth Appell at the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital on March 26, 1965.

Ken Appell With His Young Daughter in 1971

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Kenneth Appell with his daughter Ann Marie at age 5.

Young Ken Appell and His Dog Terry

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Kenneth Appell at age 10, in 1933, with his fox terrier Terry, named after the title character in the popular comic strip "Terry and the Pirates."

WWII Pilot Ken Appell

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Dr. Kenneth Appell flew missions in the Pacific for the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. Here he's shown during training at Lambert Field in St. Louis.

Dr. Appell in the Operating Room, 2002

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Kenneth Appell, left, performing surgery at Rhinebeck's Northern Dutchess Hospital in 2002.

Arranging to Meet Dr. Polo

.On vacation in November 2004 in the Asturian town of Cangas de Onís in northern Spain, Dr. Appell (pictured here by the old Roman Bridge with wife Marcy and son David), arranges to meet Dr. Polo in Madrid the next day.

Touring Italy, 2007

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Here Dr. Appell and his wife Marcy take in the sweeping panorama from the hilltop principality of San Marino, in north central Italy.

Dr. Appell meets Dr. Polo

Dr. Appell and wife Marcy finally meet Dr. José Ramón Polo and his wife MariLuz at Madrid's famous Lhardy restaurant in November 2004. After hearing Dr. Appell's story at a conference in Phoenix in 1988, Dr. Polo embarked on the mission of revindicating his place in history as the inventor of the AV Fistula. It would take him 16 years to track Dr. Appell down.