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NEWSNew Director of Statisticsand Audit for UKTDr Dave Collett has beenappointed to the newposition of Director ofStatistics and Audit atUK Transplant.Dave will join UKT from theUniversity of Reading,where he is a SeniorLecturer in AppliedStatistics. Dave has a PhDfrom the University of Hullwhere he lectured beforemoving to Reading.In the mid 1980s, he spenta two-year sabbaticalperiod at the NationalUniversity of Malaysia.During this time, hecollaborated with scientistsat the Institute of MedicalResearch in Kuala Lumpuron modelling thetransmission of malaria,and exploring the likelyimpact of differentintervention policies.Dave was appointed Headof the Department ofApplied Statistics atReading in 1994. Hisresearch interests arefocussed on the medicalapplications of statistics,and he has an internationalreputation for his expertisein the analysis of rates andproportions, and data inthe form of survival times –areas of particular relevanceto the work of UKT.Dave, who will take up hisnew post in August, said,“This position at UKTprovides an irresistibleopportunity to collaboratewith the transplantcommunity on a widerange of problems. I amparticularly looking forwardto working with UKT’sbiostatisticians to helprealise the full potential ofthe National TransplantDatabase.”Dave and his wife, Janet,will move to Bristol at theend of July. He shares hiswife’s interests in the foodof different countries andcultures, and enjoyscooking. Dave is also anenthusiastic gardener, andenjoys walking holidaysspent above the tree line inthe Swiss alps.E-mail:Dave.Collett@uktransplant.nhs.uk (from August)UK’s first non-heartbeating lung transplantIn December 2002 Professor JohnDark and his team at the FreemanHospital carried out the UK’s firstlung transplant from a nonheartbeatingdonorAfter surgery, the lung functionedvery well, but there were a number ofother complications and, sadly, thepatient died.There have been a number of groupsaround the world, notably in Swedenand the USA, who have carried outlaboratory research in this area. Theessence of this work is that you cankeep a lung inflated under warmischaemic conditions (without bloodcirculating) for about one hour.“This transplant” said John “is veryexciting. The lung may be an evenmore suitable organ for nonheartbeatingdonation than thekidney and donor teams need tothink about the potential for nonheartbeatinglung donation.”There is a huge shortage of lungs fortransplant with a high mortality rate,of about 30% – increasing to 40%for some groups of people – for thoseon the waiting list.This donor organ shortage, coupledwith the increasing realisation thatbrain stem death injures the lung,stimulated the team to begin researchin this area. The existing successfulnon-heartbeating kidney transplantprogramme at the hospital, led byDavid Talbot, was a furtherdemonstration of what might beachieved.John explains: “We started thelaboratory work about three yearsago with the idea of confirming thatthe lung could tolerate warmischaemia if inflated and devising ameans of assessing the lung afterremoval from the donor.“Then we had a visit from Dr RobertLove, Lung Transplant Surgeon atMadison, Wisconsin where they havea very active non-heartbeatingprogramme and had already donefive lung transplants. He confirmedthat what we were doing wouldwork.”This experience led the team tobelieve that in the right circumstances(with elective “Maastricht” Category3 donors) doing an assessment of thelung wasn’t necessary, as in thissetting information about thefunction of the lung could beobtained before the donor has died.As a result the non-heartbeating lungprogramme at the Freeman Hospitalbegan at the end of last year and,with the qualified success of the firsttransplant, the team are available toretrieve lungs from anywhere in thecountry.This arrangement is supported by UKTransplant’s Cardiothoracic TransplantAdvisory Group (CTAG) and all nonheartbeatingschemes in the UK havebeen contacted to say that theFreeman Hospital team are keen toretrieve suitable lungs from any“Maastricht” Category 3 nonheartbeatingdonor.For more information contactProfessor John Dark, FreemanHospital, Newcastle tel: 01912231450; e-mail:j.h.dark@ncl.ac.ukBulletin Summer 2003 3