Leading transplant specialists gather for international conference

07 November 2024 - Liver transplant experts from King’s College Hospital are set to meet at a major international event

The British Transplantation Society is hosting a two day conference, running from 7 – 8 November at King’s College Hospital, opening with a British Transplant Society Monthematic meeting on ageing and organ transplantation, followed by an International Living Donor Liver Transplant UK Symposium on living donor liver transplantation.

Attendees at the two day conference will hear from over 40 organ transplant specialists including Professor Kim Olthoff, President International Living Donor Liver Transplant Group, USA; Professor Derek Manas Director NHS Blood and Transplant, UK; Menna Clatworthy, Professor of Translational Immunology at the University of Cambridge Department of Medicine; Dr Brian Hogan, Lead Clinician in Liver Critical Care and a consultant in Critical Care Medicine and Hepatology at University College London and Royal Free London; and Mr Chris Callaghan, member of the transplant teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital and consultant transplant surgeon at Guy’s Hospital, London.

Professor Krishna Menon, Consultant – Liver Transplant and Hepatobilary Surgeon at King’s, and President of the British Transplant Society, said: “This conference will bring together over 200 attendees from countries all over the world to share the latest research and clinical practice on how organ donation can transform patients’ lives.

“There is currently a national drive led by NHS Blood and Transplant aiming to increase living donor liver transplants in the UK; a process where people donate part of their liver while they are still alive to a relative. We are looking forward to hearing from international experts in living donor liver transplantation who will share their experiences of donor selection, donor and recipient surgical techniques and how different services are supporting patients and donors.”

King’s Liver Transplant Unit runs the largest transplantation programme in Europe, and carries out more than 250 transplants a year.

Late last year, Teddy Nicholls is one King’s patient who benefitted from a life-saving organ donation at 21 months old. His mother, Emma Nicholls, donated part of her liver for Teddy’s transplant, and three weeks after the procedure, Teddy was able to return back home to his family. Emma said: “I am incredibly grateful to the whole hospital team from the theatres to the wards where we stayed; they’ve been fantastic looking after Teddy and I every step of the way.”