In January 2026, the Live Life Give Life–British Transplantation Society–QUOD Innovation Competition was launched.
Live Life Give Life (LLGL) very generously provided pump-priming funding for two awards available to early career research scientists, clinicians, nurses, and allied health professionals. The funding was for UK-based studies and designed to help research projects generate preliminary data or support an ongoing research program.
The two awards were:
QUOD Impact Award
The QUOD award will allow the researcher to access samples in the QUOD bioresource to use in their studies. The award covers up to £3.5k of samples, with a minimum of £2k to be used on samples and the remaining funds able to be used for analysis.
Open Discovery Award
The second award is also for £3.5k and is to support early stage transplant research. There were no restrictions on applications for this award and it included quantitative and qualitative studies.
We received a strong set of high-quality applications that were assessed against several criteria, including project originality, potential patient impact, and prospects for clinical translation.
Six researchers were shortlisted in total, with three finalists selected for each award:
QUOD Impact Award
- Christiana Lekka
University of Exeter
Inside the Pancreas: How Diabetes and Obesity Reshape the Organ
- Sofia Kazerouni
Newcastle University
Validation of artificial intelligence (AI) models for macroscopic donor kidney assessment to support transplant utilisation decisions
- Michael Corr
Queen’s University Belfast
Are plasma proteomic signatures at retrieval associated with early graft dysfunction in high risk deceased donor kidneys?
Open Discovery Award
- Dhruv Satya Sahni
Glasgow University
A longitudinal cohort study of urological complications predictable by pre-transplant lower urinary tract symptoms (SCOPE)
- Isaac Chung
St George’s, London
Investigation into differences in vascular biology of kidney transplant recipients and donors
- Natalie Clark
James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough
Developing a tailored public health intervention for NHS staff: London
Isaac Chung, Natalie Clark, Sofia Kazerouni& Christiana Lekka.
The final of the Innovation Competition took place at the BTS Annual Congress 2026 in Llandudno on 5 March. The judging panel, comprising Prof Rutger Ploeg, Ms Alison Smith, Mr Chris Callaghan, and Dr Luke Yates, were highly impressed by the exceptional quality of the proposed research, which made selecting the winners particularly challenging.
After careful deliberation, the winners were announced that evening at the BTS Gala Dinner. Congratulations to Michael Corr and Isaac Chung! We are delighted to support these research projects and look forward to seeing the outcomes of their work.
Our thanks also go to everyone who applied to the competition. We are incredibly grateful to Live Life Give Life for sponsoring the Innovation Competition, and to BTS for supporting the competition and hosting the final.
“Taking part in the Live Life Give Life / BTS / QUOD Impact Award competition was a fantastic experience. It was a great opportunity to present my research ideas and to hear about the innovative work being carried out by other early career researchers.
My research focuses on using proteomics to better risk-stratify higher-risk donor kidneys, with the aim of improving how we assess and utilise donated organs. Winning the award is incredibly encouraging, and the funding will allow me to access QUOD resources to help develop this work further and support the establishment of my research agenda as I progress in my post-doctoral career.”
Michael Corr, winner of the QUOD Impact Award