Transplantation represents localised ischemia/reperfusion injury to the transplanted organ, which triggers the whole immune system and leads to immediate dysfunction of the transplanted organ as well as induction of long-term rejection. The main hypothesis is that early treatment with complement system and toll-like receptor inhibitors will reduce short-term as well as long-term consequences of reperfusion injury. We will thus aim to identify (i) when to introduce treatment in the donation/transplantation process and (ii) which inhibitor has the greatest potential for transfer to clinical studies.

Current projects are:

• Kidney transplant model using a living donor animal model and ex vivo normothermic machine perfusion (Oslo based collaborative project with the University of Aarhus, DK and University Medical Center Groningen, NL)
• Systemic inflammation in brain death donors (Aarhus based collaborative animal project with the University of Aarhus, DK and University Medical Center Groningen, NL)
• Complement and Toll-like receptor inhibition in brain death donors (Groningen based collaborative animal project at the University Medical Center Groningen, NL)
• In vitro hypoxia/reoxygenation of endothelial cells (Oslo based)