Ed Supkis

Ed Supkis MD grew up in the 1960s in the shadow of NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center and married Barbara Radnofsky in 1982. They have three children and five grandchildren. The couple — with many other community members — are co-owners of Brazos Bookstore, an independent bookseller. 

As children of NASA scientists, Ed, and Barbara had front-row seats to the development of the space program and the community built around it on rural cow pastures near Webster, Texas.

ED SUPKIS MD is a board-certified anesthesiologist specializing in cardiac anesthesia, and he worked with Dr. Michael DeBakey and his associates for over a decade. He then practiced anesthesia at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he served as Director of Quality Assurance for the Division of Anesthesiology and as Medical Director of Respiratory Care for the Division of Surgery and Anesthesiology. He later served as Medical Director for the Houston Methodist Hospital Anesthesia Preoperative Assessment Clinic where he was awarded the Hospital’s Patient Safety Award.

Throughout his anesthesia career, Ed worked on numerous national and international committees, devoted to quality improvement, standards, testing, and patient safety. Among his many inventions, he is best known for the Supkis Catheter, a specialized, patented device used for safe exchange of breathing tubes in patients with difficult airways.

He currently serves as a Senior Aviation Medical Examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration. Ed is also an instrument-rated, multi engine, private pilot.

Ed is also the co-author of "The Barber, The Astronaut, and the Golf Ball"