Tolerance in human kidney transplantation and using big data in orthopaedics

Project researcher: Dr Conor Hennessy, Academic Specialised Foundation Programme

Conor was involved in two distinct projects. The first was a continuation of work he had been involved in during medical school in Oxford. His supervisor was Professor Fadi Issa, and he worked with the TRIG research group. They wrote a paper based on the TWO-study clinical trial which sought to examine the potential for T regulatory cells as inducers of tolerance in human kidney transplantation. Conor presented this work at an international conference in Athens and published a paper in Transplantation.

Conor’s other project, and the work he is  hoping to continue as part of a future ACF, was the use of big data in orthopaedics. His supervisors for this work were Mr Adrian Kendal and Mr Simon Abram. Using HES (hospital episode statistics) data, they wished to examine the outcomes following different lower-limb surgeries across the last 25 years in the UK. This huge dataset has enormous potential, and they are hoping to get several publications out of it over the course of the next few years. Conor has presented data at one national conference so far and hopes to submit 4 first-author publications in the next few months, as well as attend international conferences in the US early next year.

They are looking for keen students. So, if you are contemplating pursuing an ASFP and wish to do some research in orthopaedics and big data, please reach out!

October 2024