Professor Michael Nicholson

Novel technologies for transplant organ preservation

Director of Studies for Medicine (1A) and Anatomy Tutor

Professor of Transplant Surgery, Director of the National Institute of Health and Care Research Transplant Research Unit

Michael Nicholson is the Professor of Transplant Surgery at the University of Cambridge and a Consultant Surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He is Director of the NIHR National Research Unit in Organ Donation and Transplantation and an NIHR Senior Investigator. He is also the President of the Surgical Research Society of the UK and Ireland. He studied medicine at the University of Nottingham. His clinical interests are live donor kidney transplantation and parathyroid surgery. His research group are investigating machine perfusion technologies for the delivery of novel therapies to donor kidneys prior to transplantation. 

MacMillan S, Hosgood SA, Walker-Panse L, Rahfeld P, Macdonald SS, Kizhakkedathu JN, Withers SG, Nicholson ML. Enzymatic conversion of human blood group A kidneys to universal blood group O. Nature Communications 2024;15:2795. PMID 38555382.

Hosgood SA, Callaghan CJ, Wilson CH, Smith L, Mullings J, Mehew J, Oniscu GC, Phillips BL, Bates L, Nicholson ML. Normothermic machine perfusion versus cold storage in donation after circulatory death kidney transplantation: a randomised controlled open-label trial. Nature Medicine 2023;29:1511-1519. PMID 37231075.

MacMillan S, Hosgood SA, Nicholson ML. Enzymatic blood group conversion of human kidneys during ex vivo normothermic machine perfusion. Br J Surg 2023;110:133-137. PMID 36038141.

Albert C, Bracaglia L, Koide A, DiRito , Hosgood SA, Nicholson ML, Pober JS, Saltzman WM, Tietjen GT. Monobody adapter for functional antibody display on nanoparticles for adaptable targeted delivery applications. Nature Communications 2022;13(1):5998. PMID 36220817.

DiRito JR, Hosgood SA, Reschke M, Albert C, Bracaglia LG, Ferdinand JR, Stewart BJ, Edwards CM, Vaish AG, Thiru S, Mulligan DC, Haakinson DJ, Clatworthy MR, Saltzman WM, Pober JS, Nicholson ML, Tietjen GT. Lysis of cold-storage-induced microvascular obstructions for ex vivo revitalization of marginal human kidneys. Am J Transplant 2021:21:161-173. PMID 32627324.

Ferdinand JR, Hosgood SA, Moore T, Ferro A, Ward CJ, Castro-Dopica T Nicholson ML, Clatworthy MR. Cytokine absorption during human kidney perfusion reduces delayed graft function-associated inflammatory genes. Am J Transplant 2021;21:2188-2199. PMID 33098231.

Smith S, Hosgood SA, Nicholson ML. Ischemia-reperfusion injury in renal transplantation: three key signalling pathways in tubular epithelial cells. Kidney International 2019;95:50-56. PMID 30606429.

Hosgood SA, Thompson E, Moore TA, Wilson CH, Nicholson ML. Normothermic machine perfusion for the assessment and transplantation of declined human kidneys from donation after circulatory death donors. British Journal of Surgery 2018;105:388-394. PMID 29210064.

Tietjen GT, Hosgood SA, DiRito J, Cui J, Deep D, Song E, Kraehling JR, Piotrowski-Daspit AS, Al-Lamki R, Thiru S, Bradley JA, Saeb-Parsy K, Bradley JR, Nicholson ML, Saltzman WM, Pober JS. Nanoparticle targeting to the endothelium during normothermic machine perfusion of human kidneys Science Translational Medicine 2017;29:418-458. PMID 29187644.

Hosgood SA, Saeb-Parsy K, Hamed MO, Nicholson ML. Successful transplantation of human kidneys deemed untransplantable but resuscitated by normothermic machine perfusion. Am J Transplant 2016;16:3282-3285. PMID 27273794.

Nicholson ML, Hosgood SA.  Renal Transplantation after normothermic perfusion: the first clinical study. Am J Transplant 2013;13:1246-52. PMID 23433047.

British Transplantation Society Lifetime Achievement Award
European Society of Transplantation Legacy Award for Outstanding Achievement
Hunterian Professorship, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Moynihan Medal, Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
Norman Tanner Prize for Surgery, Royal Society of Medicine
Clarke Medal for Surgical Innovation, Royal College of Surgeons of England
British Journal of Surgery Prize for the best published manuscript of the year (7 awards)
NIHR Senior Investigator Award
Kidney Research UK Michael Nicholson Research and Fellowships Awards

2018