Dr. Michael Davidson, Surgeon Fatally Shot in Boston Hospital

A Look At Dr. Michael Davidson, The Surgeon Fatally Shot At The Brigham

Dr. Michael Davidson died late Tuesday after being shot two times inside Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The alleged shooter was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and has been identified by Boston police as Stephen Pasceri, 55, of Millbury.

As the investigation into the shooting continues, here’s a look at what we know about the surgeon:

Davidson, 44, of Wellesley, was the director of endovascular cardiac surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He had been doing cardiac surgery at the hospital since 2006.

“Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for,” the hospital said in a statement.

Davidson graduated from Yale University School of Medicine in 1996 and completed his residency at Duke University Medical Center and the Brigham. He was also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

“He was a visionary, and he saw what was coming down the pike and he knew that we were going to be taking care of very complex patients in a completely different manner than we had ever thought about doing,” Dr. Pinak Shah, a Brigham doctor, said later Wednesday.

Shah said that while at the Brigham, Davidson and colleagues pushed the adoption of new, less invasive ways to repair damaged aortal valves, using catheters. (Via Universal Hub, here are Davidson’s research papers.)

The doctor leaves behind his wife, Terri Halperin, who’s a plastic surgeon, and three children, The Boston Globe reported. His wife is also seven months pregnant, the Brigham said Wednesday.

Davidson enjoyed running, which Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, the president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, mentioned in a statement to staff members Tuesday, The Boston Herald reported.


In 2010, he ran the Boston Marathon with Team Brigham to celebrate his 40th birthday. He stated at the time, “There is no better way to commemorate a birthday, run the marathon to achieve a personal goal and, in the process, support Team Brigham and its mission to help so many people.”

Davidson also engineered and constructed his own flyrods. And he played lead guitar in an amateur rock band he formed with other doctors. In a nod to using medical products in unconventional ways, the band was called Off Label.

Davidson’s family has asked for privacy.

This post has been updated. With additional reporting by WBUR’s Fred Bever.


www.commonwealth.WBUR.org