Cambridge has long been at the forefront of transplantation surgery, combining pioneering clinical innovation with world-leading research. Its history includes Europe’s first successful liver transplant by Professor Roy Calne, the UK’s first successful heart transplant by Sir Terence English at Royal Papworth Hospital, and the development of transformative immune-modifying therapies such as alemtuzumab. Today, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is home to the UK’s largest and only comprehensive adult solid organ transplant programme. 

Yet despite these advances, the need for transplantation continues to outstrip supply. In March 2025, more than 8,000 people were on the UK transplant waiting list, the highest number ever recorded, with over 460 people died waiting for a life-saving organ. At the same time, donor numbers declined and many donated organs were unable to be used because of concerns about their quality or viability. 
 
At Cambridge, our researchers are working to not only to save more of the organs that are donated, but to give every transplanted organ the best change of long-term success in its recipient. This includes developing technologies that rescue organs previously deemed untransplantable, reducing the damage organs sustain during retrieval and storage, and pioneering cell-based therapies that could one day repair damaged organs before they are transplanted.  
 
Your gift will support Cambridge’s scientists and clinicians in transforming the future of transplant surgery.