British Transplantation Society

The collection comprises a comprehensive set of organisational records of the British Transplantation Society from its foundation in 1972 up to 2007.

The collection includes administrative records of the society (minutes, newsletters, annual reports), correspondence, abstracts and papers from meetings, press and journal cuttings, and subject files.

1971-2007

30 boxes, 2 digital items

Arranged in sections A-D as follows:

A: Administrative and Constitutional

B: Publications and Press

C: Meetings and Congresses of the Society

D: Subject Files

The majority of the collection was presented to the library at Wellcome Collection by the British Transplantation Society, 20/03/2003 (Acc.1138). Further accessions were received from the Society in 2003 (Acc.1156, Acc.1200) and 2007 (Acc.1515). Acc.1200 was received from Professor Leslie Brent in 2003.

The British Transplantation Society was founded in 1972. The Society was established to represent the views of those working in the field of transplantation in Great Britain, and to advance the study of the biological and clinical problems of tissue and organ transplantation. As well as providing a forum for the discussion of medical issues surrounding transplantation, the Society has also addressed ethical concerns in response to scientific and legislative developments.

The Society evolved from the London Transplant Club, an informal group set up in 1971 to allow Surgeons to share experiences and concerns regarding transplantation, especially in the field of tissue typing. At a meeting of the London Transplant Club held on 28th September 1971, the need for an organisation to represent and support those working in the field of transplantation was discussed and supported by a number of physicians, surgeons and immunologists.

The inaugural meeting of the Society was held at the Royal Free Hospital, London, 12 April 1972, and chaired by immunologist, Professor Sir Peter Medawar. Peter Medawar became the first President (known as Chairman until 1982) of the Society. It was decided that the spring and autumn meetings should be associated with the British Society of Immunology, and there should be at least one other meeting each year.

Membership of the BTS is open to all professionals working in the field of transplantation. The membership is multi-disciplinary and includes clinicians from a wide range of specialities, including scientists, nurses and donor coordinators, as well as other professions allied to medicine and ethics. The BTS is also involved in national policy making, providing advice to the Department of Health, and developing initiatives to establish transplantation in routine clinical practice.

The Society was granted Charitable Status in 1988 and was registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee in 2003.

Further information on the history of BTS and the history of Transplantation can be found on the British Transplantation Society's website.

Archived website

This organisation's website has been archived as part of the work of the UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC) and can be consulted here. Readers interested in the subject of transplantation and immunology will also find relevant material in the following collections at Wellcome Collection: British Society of Immunology (SA/BSI), Sir Peter Medawar (PP/PBM), Maurice Henry Pappworth (PP/MHP/D.1-2), Sir (James) Keith Ross (GC/238).

This collection has been catalogued and is available to library members. Some items have access restrictions which are explained in the item-level catalogue records.

The Society is still active and further additions ('accruals') are expected. Some accruals to this collection have not yet been catalogued. Brief summaries of these materials are provided below. To request access to these uncatalogued materials, or to find out more about them, please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org. Some items may have access restrictions which will be explained to you if you request them. - Acc 2513: Organisational records of the British Transplantation Society (BTS) from c.2003-2019 in physical and digital form, c.2002-2019. They include general constitutional and administrative records of the Society; executive correspondence and minutes; BTS website content; BTS Guidelines, Press Statements, Publications and Position Statements; minutes of BTS Council Meetings and Annual General Meetings; records from BTS Annual Congresses and other BTS Meetings; materials relevant to BTS' work, or produced by its members, collated by the Society; and obituaries for BTS members. Also included are papers deposited with BTS by Michael Golby, a BTS member and former transplant surgeon at Exeter Hospital. These comprise published papers and unpublished papers by Golby given at various BTS meetings. They give an insight into the activity of a typical BTS member. Topics covered include organ transplantation; ethical standards and consent relating to transplantation; and clinical guidelines, standards and policy.

Some abbreviations used in this collection:

BKPA: British Kidney Patient Association

BMA: British Medical Association

BMJ: British Medical Journal

BSI: British Society for Immunology

BTS: British Transplantation Society

GMC: General Medical Council

MCI: Medical Centres International

NKRF: National Kidney Research Fund

TIME: Transplants in Mind

UKTCA: United Kingdom Transplant Coordinators Association

UKTFT: UK Transport for Transplants

UKTS: United Kingdom Transplant Service

UKTSSA: UK Transplant Support Services Authority

ULTRA: Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority

UNOS: United Network for Organ Sharing