Travel Grants Information
2025
CIIRTA 2025
Kim Corbey
Attendance at the Bi-annual IIRTA conference is paramount to maintaining and improving knowledge in current practices globally , and in forging good working relationships with other intestinal transplant centres .
It will also give me an opportunity to work on some research into the outcomes of transplants in our transition cohort to present at the poster sessions
As lead nurse and transplant coordinator of the intestinal transplant program, it is important to remain up to date with current knowledge and practices within the intestinal transplant service globally .
In order to remain a viable centre in intestinal transplantation , we need to be seen to participate globally and work as a cohesive team .
Ideally the team will comprise a good selection of Gastro`s surgeons , dietitian, nutrition staff and transplant coordinators.
The Aim is for Improved research-based knowledge and relationships with other transplant centres ,
Attendance of the transplant team will boost our profile as a cohesive team, highlight we are a centre of excellence , and subsequently boost both the number of referrals and Transplants , and provide the opportunity to continue to improve and build on the working relationships we have with other centres.
Lisa Vokes
Benefits of attending this meeting included:
· Networking with international colleagues which included the opportunity to meet face to face with colleagues for the development of position statement for IIRTA
· Presentation of collaborative research with Birmingham Womens and Childrens colleagues in an oral communication session from my work with transition age bowel transplant recipients
· Opportunity to attend educational sessions on aspects of intestinal failure and transplant
· Attendance of Women in transplant event
· Attendance at AHP committee meeting
· Chapters, journal, IF and ITx registry [international] updates sessions
British Transplantation Society 2025
Andrea Devaney
Excellent meeting. Viral session I co-chaired/was a panellist on was well received and BTS Chair is supportive of another joint (SUTPA/BTS) session next year. It received good feedback.
Also learned new things at the meeting - MAID and donation (medical assistance in dying).
Also provided fantastic opportunity to network, share and compare medicine/pharmacy practices.
Thank you for the support.
Sarah Farwaz
Attending the ERA Congress provided valuable insights into the latest advances in nephrology and transplantation.
It offered opportunities to engage with experts in kidney transplantation, gain updates on cutting-edge research, and directly supported my professional development and ongoing transplant-focused work within the NDS department.
It also offered networking opportunities with experts in the field and contributed directly to my professional development and current research focus.
My abstract was accepted for a full oral presentation, which provided excellent exposure for our research and generated valuable feedback and collaborative opportunities.
Azita Mellati
I attended the British Transplantation Society (BTS) conference, where I gave an oral presentation on part of my DPhil project. This was a valuable opportunity for networking and for learning about state-of-the-art research techniques in the field of transplantation. I exchanged ideas with fellow researchers and received valuable feedback.
Gemma Cutland
Thank you so much for providing the opportunity for me to attend the Joint BTS and NHSBT Congress – it
was fantastic! I was introduced to a few new topics in the field of transplantation that I had not
previously been aware/very informed of – specifically the concept of donation following MAiD, and the
increasing role of AI in transplantation. I have come back feeling very inspired, and keen to share what I
have learned with my other colleagues within the laboratory.
Nicola Hayward
I have been fully updated regarding the 2030 transplantation strategy
• We held discussions and a Q&A on NHS England being disbanded
• We learned from nursing colleagues and psychologists regarding stress at work and coping
mechanisms, ANP practitioners being available for support to all coordinators and the
whole transplant process.
• There were many presentations regarding the latest research in transplantation
• There were talks by patients and donors on their journey and how we can make improvements
• The latest on the new SCORE implementation
• Virology discussions
Lisa Snelling
This was my first time attending a BTS conference. I was able to attend multiple sessions which were relevant to my practice as a clinical pharmacist here is Oxford. For example, the imlifidase symposium, gave me an insight into the French experience and that from other UK units. I also attended the viral management update which included CMV, HIV, HHV8 and hep C updates. It was an excellent opportunity to network with the wider transplant community, hearing others experiences and work happening in other units. The international speakers were brilliant, the Spanish transplant experience and also the Canadian donation after assisted death talk was incredibly interesting and relevant given the UK assisted dying bill is in the first stages of going through parliament.
Jen Day
An opportunity to network with the wider transplant community and attend informative and inspirational lectures and presentations to further my personal knowledge and learning.
2024
Hannah Docker - British society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (BSHI) conference 2024
I am incredibly grateful to OTF for facilitating my attendance at this meeting, which has enabled me to continue my development as a clinical scientist. This year the BSHI annual conference was held in Manchester on the 24-25th September. The Oxford Transplant Immunology and Immunogenetics laboratory submitted 3 abstracts to the organising committee. These have been published in the International Journal of Immunogenetics volume 51, issue S2. The titles ‘O9: Introducing a programme of HNA-3 genotyping and antibody screening for patients on the solid organ transplant list’ and ‘O12: First successful imlifidase-enabled kidney transplant in the UK: a case report’ were both selected to be presented at the conference in the best abstract category. ‘P22: Outcomes of delisting antibody specificities in highly sensitized transplant recipients: The Oxford experience’ was selected as a poster presentation.
The conference programme was extremely stimulating and featured talks including updates on OTDT and the H&I support required, improving access to HPC and solid organ transplantation, and transplanting highly sensitised patients. Additionally there were talks from guest speakers Professor Dan Davis on ‘The secret body’ and Dr Rob Liwski ‘From Halifax to AXE: Developing cutting edge protocols for HLA antibody detection’. My colleague Jeanette Ayers was due to attend the conference to present abstract O12, however unfortunately she was unwell and unable to attend. As I have been involved in the work on imlifidase-enabled transplantation in Oxford, I stepped in to give this talk at the conference, as well as my own abstract on HNA-3 genotyping and antibody screening: a non-HLA target that has been shown to be relevant in cases of kidney transplant rejection. This was my first time presenting scientific work at a conference and I felt privileged to be demonstrating the cutting-edge work that we are carrying out in the Oxford lab to facilitate the transplantation of highly sensitized patients and also our work to tackle unexpectedly positive crossmatches and subsequent negative outcomes for graft survival.
It was very valuable to hear of the work carried out by other UK transplant laboratories and the collaboration and connections made at the conference are paramount to our development as a laboratory. Additionally, my role as a senior clinical scientist also involves being a BSHI diploma training manager and delivering content to our local BSHI diploma trainees (of which there are currently 5 members of staff). Hearing of the current work in our discipline helps me to remain abreast of the latest developments and deliver up-to-date training on current practice and scientific advances to our trainee clinical scientists.
2023
Mohamed Aly Mohamed Elshafei Elzawahry - IPITA-IXA-CTRMS congress
This was a particularly special event as it combined the three international associations of pancreas, islet, xenotransplantation, regenerative medicine and cell therapy.
I was in attendance as I was invited to present my work orally and I was awarded a scientific congress award for my work, which was generously funded by an OTF grant awarded in 2022.
The research I presented was to compare different modes of oxygenated cold machine preservation of the pancreas, which is a novel technique. This is a promising application for this technology and it is quite close to application in the clinical environment.
If this transition to the clinical environment is successful, this research has the potential to reduce preservation injury, increasing the number of pancreases safely and successfully used for transplant. Presenting at such an international platform was a well-timed valuable opportunity to publicise our work in the transplant community and gain invaluable feedback.
Irene Mosca - ESOT 23, Athens 17-20 September 2023 - "Transplantation at a crossroads"
The European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) Congress occurs every two
years and it aims to provide “state of the art” updates on the most relevant topics in
Transplantation and to explore future avenues in the field. The mission of the Society is
to “improve outcomes for patients with terminal organ disease through transplantation,
organ regeneration and substitution.”
the ESOT Congress 2023 wasn’t just an update on the most relevant
innovations in transplantation, but most of all, it offered the opportunity to understand
how the transplant community is changing to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving
society and how stakeholders can contribute to reach our shared goals.
Rebecca Spiers - IPITA-IXA-CTRMS Joint Congress (San Diego) 26th -29th October 2023
I am grateful to the OTF for supporting me to travel to the IPITA-IXA-CTRMS Joint Congress, which took place in San Diego from the 26th -29th October 2023. IPITA is a high impact conference within the islet isolation and transplantation community and is of international standing within this field. The conference offered us an opportunity to witness the very latest cutting edge research occurring within the international islet community, which has been instrumental in underpinning the next phase of our research project planning. The conference offered many fantastic networking opportunities with colleagues, which we are hopeful will lay foundation for future collaboration. I was grateful to have an opportunity to present my accepted oral abstract, which was entitled “Reducing Neutral Protease Dose During Islet Isolation Does Not Impair Islet Recovery from Pancreases Retrieved for Autologous Use”. The abstract was well received and resulted in several key discussion topics.
Laura Wingfield - British Transplantation Society 2023
By attending the British Transplant Society annual conference it provided me with multiple benefits. I was able to present my research at the conference as a finalist for the Medawar Medal for my research focused on Artificial Intelligent (AI) methodology to help predict kidney transplant survival at up to 10 years. This work also highlighted the importance of working with transplant patients to determine their information needs during the transplant process. I have been working with both patient and clinicians at the Oxford Transplant Centre to find out what they would specifically want from an AI-based tool to help provide further information about the transplant process. This separate research was presented as a poster at the conference.
In addition to presenting my own research, I was able to see several presentations from researchers throughout Europe. By attending these presentations, not only did I learn about techniques in transplantation which may be beneficial in my clinical practice, but it also helped me further enhance my own research by providing me with different ideas on how to conduct my patient, qualitative research as well as mathematical methodology that is being used by the NHS Blood and Transplant team to assess the utility of organ transplantation. This particular area of research is directly translatable to the Artificial Intelligence models trialled by our research team. Ultimately, the conference was an incredibly useful educational experience that both allowed me to share my own research with the transplant community as well as gain invaluable insights into cutting edge research in the field. I am extremely grateful to the Oxford Transplant Foundation for their support that allowed me to attend.
2022
Mohamed Aly Mohamed Elshafei Elzawahry - British Transplantation Society
This was the annual congress for the British Transplant Society of the year 2022. This was a particularly special event as it celebrated the society’s 50th anniversary and it was the first in person meeting of the society since COVID lockdowns had begun.
I was in attendance as I was shortlisted for a scientific competition which intends to foster new research ideas and develop clinical trials. I presented my proposal for a clinical trial of novel machine perfusion technology in preservation of pancreas organs prior to transplantation. We are currently seeking funding for this specific trial and the feedback from the audience and the judges was critical in such a process.
If successful, this research has the potential to reduce preservation injury, increasing the number of pancreases safely and successfully used for transplant. Presenting at such a national platform was a well-timed valuable opportunity to publicise our work in the transplant community and gain invaluable feedback.
Lisa Vokes - 12th International Paediatric Intestinal Failure and Rehabilitation Symposium, Toronto, Canada
Networking with the international faculty; harnessing support for the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) AHP team, linking with research dieticians and AHPs, sharing practice with other specialist dieticians (we have only three other such dieticians in the UK).
Expanding knowledge towards paediatric experience, relevant from the point of view of transition patients whom we see in Oxford.
Specifically learning re sarcopenia and feed shortage experience of the healthcare professional over recent years.
Increasing knowledge of challenges faced in healthcare in other countries and also increasing knowledge of products available in different countries.
Increasing the profile of the OUH team by being present.
2018
Hannah Kenworthy BSHI Conference 2018 (5-6 September 2018)
My attendance at the BSHI conference 2018 has greatly enhanced my experience as a trainee of the British Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics diploma by allowing me to attend talks on the latest research in the field, including talks on the impact of the introduction of the 'soft opt-out' organ donation system in Wales and controversies with Organ donation attitudes. I was also able to meet company representatives supplying the laboratory with consumables and the latest technologies and meet the BSHI training representative to discuss training progress and updates. The poster research session gave me a good opportunity to talk to current trainees and qualified Clinical Scientists about the projects they carried out as part of their diploma, giving me insight into the process and scope for a project that I will have to carry out in the future as part of my diploma.
Mohammed Ali Rafique BSHI Conference 2018 (5-6 September 2018)
I have been working as a Biomedical Scientist in H&I since April 2009, and registered as a BSHI trainee in September 2016. I have never attended a BSHI AGM before, despite haveing a poster displayed at the 2016 conference in Oxford. I have once again been successful in writing an abstract for this conference, which has been accepted as a poster; this year I was able to attend and defend my poster. A variety of speakers on many topics gave a broad understanding of the areas in which research is being carried out, and the Terasaki and Festenstein speakers were extremely interesting.
Helenna Lythgoe BSHI National Higher Training Meeting 11th-12th June 2018
I would like to thank the Oxford Transplant Foundation for granting me an educational grant which enabled me to attend this meeting in Birmingham.
The purpose of this meeting was to provide an overview of the topics covered in the RCPath examination in Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (H&I); this would be the next step in my training and would enable me to apply for higher banding roles.
of particular interest were lectures on areas of the syllabus that I am not exposed to during my day to day work. These included the selection of donors for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation as well as a clinical view of the advantages of volunteer unrelated versus cord blood versus haplo-identical stem cell transplantation, platelet and granulocyte immunology and chimerism testing. There were also interesting talks on the risk stratification of antibodies in solid organ transplantation and disease association and immunogenetics which highlighted how practices differ between the different H&I laboratories.
I also found it extremely helpful to meet people from other laboratories who are either working towards or have already sat the RCPath exam. It gave me an insight into the level of knowledge that is required, the format of the exam and the amount of work that will be needed to succeed. Speaking to members of other laboratories also highlighted the differences in practice between the different laboratories and gave me some interesting discussion points to take back to my colleagues.
Carlo Ceresa International Liver Transplantation Congress
This was a fantastic meeting where important advances in liver transplantation were discussed. I strengthened some academic collaborations and presented my work exploring the impact of cold storage prior to normothermic machine perfusion in liver transplantation which received a positive response.
2019
Alice Hayward BTS Annual Congress 2019 (6-8 March 2019)
The congress included 3 full days of inspirational talks. These were all extremely educational and I feel that I learnt a great deal, which will help towards my career progression. I learnt about current research and new technologies to improve organ donation and transplantation. In particular, the predictions of how the new opt-out system will effect organ donation in the UK. This will be extremely helpful moving forward for how this may affect mine and my team's workload and how to cope with this potential, additional pressure. I also had the chance to meet scientists from other H&I labs and found it particularly interesting to discuss the different techniques their labs use, information which I can relay back to my colleagues at the Oxford lab.
Adam Thorne BTS Annual Congress 2019 (6-8 March 2019)
The British Transplant Society annual conference showcases the latest clinical and translational research in UK organ donation and transplantation. It was beneficial to see presentations on the latest advancements in transplant research and biobanks, and provides a platform to present your own work. I was chosen to present a moderated poster for my work on deceased donor exosome proteomics and subsequently won a poster prize.
Honglei Huang BTS Annual Congress 2019 (6-8 March 2019)
I present my work "Remote ischemic conditioning dampens acute inflammation in kidney transplantation", it contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanism of remote ischaemic conditioning. The project I proposed "Identification of Exosome Proteins Associated with Transplant Outcome from Donor Serum" was presented as poster by my research assistant Adam Thorne and was awarded as one of the 10 best poster in the meeting.