Research Fellow - Organ Donation & Transplantation

Job summary

This Clinical Research Fellowship provides an exciting opportunity to pursue high quality, important and impactful research in the field of solid organ donation and transplantation. The post will provide a three-year period of full-time research training and the successful applicant is expected to register for a higher degree (PhD or equivalent).

The post-holder will be employed by NHSBT and will work closely with NHSBT and hold an honorary contract with the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Working under the principal direction of Mr Ian Currie, the appointed research fellow will work closely with the NHSBT Statistics and Clinical Research team in Bristol and with other senior colleagues at UK organ retrieval teams.

This Fellowship is aimed at candidates from any professional, clinical background, committed to further developing their research career. The post will appeal to those with a specific interest in organ retrieval and transplantation. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to work with a diverse team of experts within NHSBT and the Edinburgh Transplant Centre.

Main duties of the job

Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) is a developing technique in DCD (Donation after Circulatory Death) organ retrieval. Warm blood perfusion of abdominal organs is commenced after death, to resuscitate organs prior to transplantation. Despite excellent outcomes in livers and kidneys, there are still some organs that do less well, even with NRP treatment during retrieval. Currently, it is not known why this might be nor how it could be predicted during NRP, from the bloods taken during the procedure.

This project will utilise routine data already collected during NRP organ retrieval and routine outcome data for liver and kidney transplantation. The program will seek to identify key parameters to be optimised and the most important factors indicating organ quality during NRP.

Specifically, the successful candidate will undertake these studies:

• Metabolic homeostasis and perfusion goals in NRP
• Metabolic indicators and outcome in transplantation after NRP
• Reliability of metabolic indicators as a function of volume replacement in NRP

Results will improve the conduct of NRP, allow more confident utilisation of DCD NRP organs and could have important benefits for UK transplant patients.

About us

At NHS Blood and Transplant, were incredibly proud of the many talented people who come together every day to make our organisation the very best it can be. We have clearly defined values that are centred around offering exceptional care to our donors and their families. We take care of each other too and we focus on building our expertise so we can change lives, provide quality support and offer fulfilling careers. Its an opportunity to contribute to a unique team as part of a service that saves lives 365 days a year. We offer brilliant benefits including 27 days of holiday (plus bank holidays), a comprehensive induction and training programme, and competitive pension scheme. We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace and aim to reflect the diverse communities we work with and positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community. Three small words, one big difference - Caring, Expert and Quality. Together we'll save and improve more lives than ever