It is with great sadness to share the news of the death of Honorary Fellow of the College, Sir Roy Yorke Calne.
Sir Roy was awarded the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Honorary Fellowship on 8 October 1993.
Sir Roy Calne was an extraordinary doctor and pioneer in organ transplantation. On 2 May 1968 Calne performed the UK鈥檚 first successful Liver transplant at Addenbrooke鈥檚 hospital in Cambridge.
Addenbrooke鈥檚 hospital named its specialist transplant unit after the medic, honouring his 鈥渨orld firsts鈥, and a plaque was placed at the entrance.
In 1978 Sir Roy became the first doctor to use an immunosuppressant, which was found to be effective in reducing organ rejection. This great achievement paved the way for transplant medicine to become mainstream and a huge expansion in the number of transplant units worldwide.
Calne performed a series of surgical 鈥渨orld firsts鈥 and his work on liver transplants offered thousands of people with end-stage liver disease a normal life.
Sir Roy is said to have conducted the earliest ever liver, heart and lung transplant nine years later, and in 1992 carried out the UK鈥檚 first intestinal transplant.
Two years after that he successfully performed a multi-visceral transplant combining stomach, intestine, pancreas, liver, and kidney cluster 鈥 another world first.
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On behalf of everyone at the College, we extend our sincerest condolences to the family, friends听and the many colleagues who worked alongside听Sir Roy Yorke Calne.