British surgeon Prof Sir Roy Calne, the pioneer of Europe’s first successful liver transplant operation, has died at the age of 93. Sir Roy performed the operation at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in 1968, a year after the first successful US liver transplant. He gained international recognition for being the first to use drugs to prevent the rejection of donated organs during transplants, which helped to expand organ grafting. Until his death from heart failure over the weekend, Sir Roy continued to contribute to the field of medicine that he revolutionized.
Born in Surrey, Sir Roy’s journey to success began with his medical training at Guys Hospital in London. In addition to his liver transplant work, he started a kidney transplant program in Cambridge in 1965, before performing the first liver transplant in Europe three years later. He also played a key role in the development of several immunosuppressive drugs used to prevent transplant rejection, including Cyclosporine. His achievements led to him being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 and knighted in 1986, and in 2014, he received Lifetime Achievement at the Pride of Britain awards.
Sir Roy was remembered as a “brilliant” and “amazing character” who loved sports and looked after those who might have been overlooked. Russell Calne, his son, said that his father’s work was stressful, but he never showed it. He also expressed how proud he, his siblings, and his mother were of everything Sir Roy had accomplished and that they had recognized him for those accomplishments, which took them to some fantastic places. Sir Roy’s funeral will take place in Cambridge, and donations have been requested to the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust in his memory
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