Sumoyee Basu reflects on her Medawar Medal winning research project.

Getting a sense of sensitisation: Interferon gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin 17 (IL17-A) antigen specific T cell responses distinguish between sensitisation following renal transplantation compared to pregnancy

I am extremely grateful to have been awarded the BTS Medawar Science Medal 2025 for my research evaluating the differences between sensitisation following renal transplantation compared to pregnancy. How the body distinguishes between self and non-self has long fascinated me and so became the focus of my PhD at Kings College London.

Following pregnancy or transfusion, most patients become ‘sensitised,’ meaning that they develop human leukocyte antigen antibodies (HLA IgG) against these non-self tissues. Consequently, these patients have worse clinical outcomes – they wait longer for a kidney transplant and experience poorer transplant outcomes. Women are disproportionately affected by this sensitisation owing to previous pregnancy, representing a marked health disparity. I believe it is vital to understand more about how these antibodies arise and are controlled to benefit patients waiting for a transplant.

My work is the first demonstration that there are detectable differences in these immune responses after pregnancy compared to transplantation. This is important since only by understanding the mechanisms that regulate antibody development can we distinguish between sensitised patients, and pre-empt and prevent HLA antibodies with novel immunotherapy to potentially individualise care and improve patient outcomes.

Like many others, bulk of my research time was hugely affected by COVID-19 pandemic and I mainly had to work in isolation as the final PhD student in the Dorling lab, so I was really delighted to be able to share my findings at the most attended BTS conference ever. It also feels incredibly apt to follow in the footsteps of Medawar himself since he was the first to describe the immunological paradox of pregnancy and wonder how the immune system adapts to a foetus as a transplant!

I’m supremely grateful to the patients who took part in this study and to my supervisors Professor Tony Dorling and Giovanna Lombardi at Kings College London, as well as the clinical transplant lab and clinical teams at GSTT and KCH. This work would not have been possible without the generous support of the Medical Research Council, Rosetrees Charity, Women in Transplantation and the Guys and St Thomas’ Kidney Patient’s association.

As I’ve delved deeper, I’ve unearthed more fascinating questions and I just hope I can find the research support since I think this field could keep me busy for a lifetime!