BTS

Mr Mohamed Elzawahry, Clinical Research Fellow from the Oxford Transplant Centre at the University of Oxford, attended the BTS congress to present his work

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The British Transplantation Society (BTS) annual congress was held in Harrogate, UK from 6th to 8th March 2024. Additionally, on Tuesday 5th March, before the official start of the congress, there was a post-graduate masterclass that featured a set of very interesting talks around sustainability and organ offering for transplantation. The congress was focused on sustainability and resource management in transplantation, this was emphasized by the choice of plenary discussions and talks showcased throughout the 3 days.

Our group submitted a number of abstracts on our work using QUOD samples, which investigate multiple transplant related questions, and we were delighted to be invited to present in multiple oral sessions. Dr Sarah Cross presented an update on QUOD and highlighted some of the research studies that the biobank has supported in the Basic Science session ‘Combatting Ageing’ which was co-moderated by Dr Maria Kaisar. Later in the congress, Dr Ioannis Michelakis presented “Donor Cystatin-C association with posttransplant graft function” in the main auditorium in the ‘Clinical Oral Presentations’ session. Dr Sarah Fawaz presented “Circulating TNFα, TNFR1 and TNFR2 Levels in deceased donors negatively associate with posttransplant kidney function” in the ‘Basic & Translational Science Oral Presentations’ session. All of which stimulated very engaging and interesting discussions.

I was honoured to have my abstract, “Oxygenated hypothermic machine perfusion (HMPO2) of the pancreas; comparing a ‘continuous’ and an ‘end-ischaemic’ approach in a porcine circulatory death model,” invited to be presented at the prestigious ‘7 of the best’ session. This was the result of a challenging set of experiments which have now paved the way to ongoing work supported by the QUOD whole organ research initiative.

The congress hosted a delightful drinks reception at the end of the first day and later on a vibrant themed gala dinner celebrating World Book Day. Throughout the event, networking was easy and engaging around the many industry and partner booths, including the QUOD booth staffed by Dr Sarah Cross and Philippa Wren. Overall, the congress was a great success, with excellent talks covering a wide range of multi-disciplinary interesting topics under the guise of transplantation.

QUOD’s British Transplantation Society (BTS) 2024 Overview

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QUOD attended the BTS Congress in Harrogate from 6-8 March. The annual congress brought together over 500 attendees and from our exhibition stand we were able to meet and connect with researchers, nurses, surgeons and clinicians, as well as charity and industry representatives and NHSBT staff in a wide variety of roles. Having the opportunity to talk to so many people involved in the QUOD programme from across the UK, as well as researchers who have previously or are currently using QUOD samples was so valuable. We were also able to raise awareness of the bioresource and highlight its value to potential future users.

QUOD had a large presence throughout the congress. In the ‘Diversity in Transplantation’ session, QUOD Steering Committee members Colin Wilson and Isabel Quiroga debated for and against ‘Women in Transplant: There are barriers to progressing in transplant surgery’. In the same session Menna Clatworthy, whose group at the University of Cambridge have received QUOD samples for a few research projects, participated in the panel discussion on ‘Socioeconomic, gender and ethnic diversity’. In the Basic Science session on ‘Combating aging’, QUOD National Operational Coordinator Sarah Cross presented an update on QUOD activity and highlighted some exciting work from several QUOD supported research projects in the area of organ aging.

Research using QUOD samples was presented in a number of presentations during the congress. In the prestigious Medawar Medal session, Stephanie Chong from UCL presented her work ‘Composition of the neutralising antibody response predicts risk of BK virus viraemia in renal transplant recipients’. QUOD has supplied Stephanie with donor serum and spleen samples to help facilitate this project and it was terrific to see the results being showcased in this notable session. Two biomarker studies in kidney transplantation which used QUOD donor plasma samples were presented by researchers from the University of Oxford. In the ‘Clinical Oral presentations’ session Ioannis Michelakis talked about his study ‘Donor Cystatin-C association with post-transplant graft function’. In the ‘Basic and Translational Science Oral presentations’ session Sarah Fawaz presented her work ‘Circulating TNFα, TNFR1 and TNFR2 Levels in deceased donors negatively associate with posttransplant kidney function’. In the ‘Calne Williams Medal presentations’ session, the latest developments from the OrQA project, of which QUOD is a collaborative partner, were presented by Georgious Kourounis from Newcastle University ‘Organ Quality Assessment for Livers (OrQA-L): Real-time visual assessment of steatosis during retrieval using machine learning models’.

As is BTS tradition, the gala dinner for this year’s congress had a theme, and due to it falling on World Book Day, delegates arrived dressed up as fictional characters ranging from Moby Dick, Gandalf and the Hobbit and Red Riding Hood, to a swarm of Where’s Wallys! It was a hugely enjoyable evening that ended with us dancing the night away on a packed dance floor to a particularly good live band.

We would like to thank BTS for its continued support and look forward to the 2025 congress where we can showcase more of our scientific collaborations and impact.

British Transplantation Society 2023

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From QUOD to Scotland: QUOD travelled to Edinburgh for the 50th anniversary of the British Transplantation Society (BTS).

In March, QUOD Research Assistant, Dr Hannah McGivern and Technical Assistant, Sophia Ali journeyed up to Edinburgh for the Joint Congress hosted by the British Transplantation Society (BTS) and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). This year, delegates were able to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the BTS and showcase the latest developments in the fields of organ donation and transplantation.

The conference provided a great opportunity to speak with so many of our colleagues from across the QUOD consortium, including Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation (SNODs), retrieval teams, clinicians and researchers, answer questions and listen to feedback.

When asked about her experience after attending her first conference as a representative of QUOD, Sophia commented on how great it was to meet the wider QUOD network: “I communicate with all the SNODs and NORS teams through e-mail, so meeting them in person was lovely. They gave lots of positive feedback about QUOD and how it has been working well over the years in donor hospitals. SNODs enjoy being part of the process and knowing how the work we do day to day can bring forward some ground-breaking research. It was great to speak to the people who handle the QUOD boxes after I have shipped them, to hear what their roles are in QUOD and to listen to them speak about their own personal experiences during the many stages of the QUOD sample collection process. They were also incredibly surprised that each QUOD box that they have handled is built by me!”

QUOD was honoured to be included in the opening keynote lecture on ‘Predicting the Future – Technologies to Inform Organ Utilisation’ delivered by Professor Menna Clatworthy, University of Cambridge. Furthermore, we were delighted to meet with healthcare professionals and researchers who have utilised QUOD samples as part of their research studies that were presented at the congress.

On the final day of the conference, QUOD Principal Investigator, Prof Rutger Ploeg and Basic Science Co-ordinator, Dr Maria Kaisar delivered a presentation as part of the UK Organ Donation and Transplantation (ODT) Research Network session, acknowledging the ten-year accomplishments of the biobank as well as recent collaborations and exciting new developments.

British Transplantation Society Conference 2022 debrief – by Azita Mellati

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After a year of virtual meetings and conferences, this year the British Transplantation Society (BTS) congress was again held in person at the ICC Belfast. The conference provided a great opportunity for clinicians and researchers to meet up and share the latest about their research and developments on their projects. Over the 3 days of the conference including 31 sessions, more than 100 talks were presented.

Our team from the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences (NDS) actively participated in the conference with a total 3 presentations and 1 poster. Dr Mohamed Elzawahry and Dr Letizia Lo Faro presented their research work on “Safety and feasibility of oxygenated hypothermic machine perfusion in the preservation of donor organs for pancreas transplantation” and “Normothermic machine perfusion of the liver supports protein translation and mitochondrial function while reducing protein degradation and metabolic imbalance: a proteomics study” in the “Dragon’s Den” and “Medawar medal presentations” sessions, respectively. The poster titled “Evaluation of kidney injury after treatment with CC-4066 during cold storage and assessment during normothermic reperfusion in a porcine ischemia reperfusion injury model” by Ms. Pommelien Meertens (as part of her Research Internship at NDS) was presented during the conference as well. I also had the opportunity to present my own research on “Investigation into the effect of Alpha-1 antitrypsin delivered via different preservation methods on ischemia-reperfusion injury in pig kidneys” as part of the “Science oral presentations” session. I received very interesting feedback on my project and had the great fortune to discuss details and plans with the audience and other attendees.

In addition to the scientific part of the conference, we also had the opportunity to enjoy and come together to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the BTS. Over the course of the Gala Dinner themed “the 70s”, members shared good laughter and created wonderful memories. The conference also provided the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the lifetime of research work of several members of the BTS, including Professor Peter Friend from within our own department. Overall, this year’s BTS congress was a major success and a great sign that in person, scientific gatherings are back again for the better.