Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any medium to long-term horizon scanning assessment concerning medical research advances in transplantation of material of human origin in the UK and worldwide.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is directed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to conduct or commission research into organ donation and transplantation and into the uses, or development, of stem cells and tissues.

NHSBT’s Research, Innovation and Novel Technologies Advisory Group monitors research programmes that require access to donated human material where consent has been given for research. Members of the group include leading researchers who cover all aspects of transplantation. The group also has representation from the British Transplantation Society.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), funded by the Department, also has an important role. The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre has a research theme on Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine which aims to improve outcomes in solid organ transplantation and the use of clinical advances to support the development of cell based therapies. The NIHR Innovation Observatory is a national medical horizon scanning facility which identifies technologies up to 10 years from being publicly available.