Scottish team wins international award for breakthrough bedside test aiming to tackle transplant rejection
A pioneering team of kidney researchers from Scotland, backed by Kidney Research UK and The Stoneygate Trust, have become the first British winners of the American Society of Transplantation’s Transplant Visionaries Challenge for their work developing a test to help detect kidney transplant rejection earlier, quicker, and cheaper.
Led by Mr Stephen Knight, a senior speciality registrar in renal transplantation, a team based across the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have developed a simple urine test that can detect a biomarker released during kidney transplant rejection called Granzyme B. This new test could lead to faster treatments to help prevent transplant rejection. The team received a £40,000 start-up grant from Kidney Research UK, co-funded by The Stoneygate Trust to help develop and trial their rapid test.
New test could lead to faster treatments
The test delivers results in just two hours and is designed to be performed at the bedside, allowing doctors to monitor the status of a transplanted kidney and quickly assess whether a patient’s anti-rejection medicines are working, potentially limiting the need for a painful biopsy. So far, the test has performed consistently in a trial of around 100 patients, and could lead to faster treatments to help prevent transplant rejection
Now, the teams’ work has been recognised on an international stage, their project being the first outside North America to win the Transplant Visionaries Challenge. The team beat entrants from across North America to make it into a final shortlist of five, before traveling to Arizona to present their case to a panel of experts at the Society’s Cutting Edge of Transplantation 2025 conference. They were voted as the winners by conference delegates.
A transplant is often the best option for a better quality and quantity of life for patients whose kidneys have stopped working effectively, but around ten to fifteen per cent of patients experience rejection within the first year of receiving their transplant*. Early detection is critical to ensuring the best outcomes, but the standard way to check whether rejection is occurring is a kidney biopsy - an invasive procedure that involves removing a tissue sample from the transplanted kidney. The procedure can be painful, carries risks, and takes time to process.
“It’s an honour to represent our team on an international stage and to have our work recognised in this way. After years of dedication to this research, it means a great deal to know that others see its potential too. But most importantly, this is about improving care for kidney transplant patients. That’s why we do what we do.” - Stephen Knight
More research to do
Elaine Davies, director of research operations at Kidney Research UK, said: “If validated, this test could replace the need for biopsies to identify transplant rejection in some patients in future, reducing the risk for transplant recipients in the crucial early weeks after surgery. Research like this is exactly why we fund innovation - to improve care, reduce the need for invasive procedures, and help kidney patients live well with longer lasting transplants.”
The next phase of development will focus on scaling up the testing in even more people, with industry collaboration and further trials planned across Scotland and Europe.
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