Led by Professor Rutger Ploeg and Professor Peter Friend
In a bid to increase transplantation rates and waiting lists, we are aiming to use the latest preservation technology to increase the number of viable donor organs that are available for transplant. Technology developed by the spin-out company Organox, can keep donor livers viable for up to 24 hours before transplantation – far longer than conventional storage techniques. The additional time on the machine, which uses state-of-the-art normothermic machine perfusion, allows clinicians to ensure the organ is functioning well and in as optimal condition as possible. It also means that organs that might previously have been discarded can even be repaired.
Oxford has been recognised by NHS Blood and Transplant as a flagship institution, providing it with a laboratory to investigate injury and repair mechanisms, and siting the UK component of the organ donor biobank there.
We are now proposing to establish and validate an organ Assessment and Repair Centre (ARC), which will represent a major step forward for future national transplant services.
Using molecular profiling and imaging-based assessments, this centre will characterise, repair, re-allocate and transplant organs deemed ‘non-transplantable’ or ‘high-risk’.