Tissue Services

Professor John N Kearney

John is currently Head of Tissue Services and Consultant Clinical Scientist heading up the tissues R&D function for NHS Blood and Transplant. He is a visiting Professor at the University of Leeds with an academic background in Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation. He took up his first post as Director of the Yorkshire Regional Tissue Bank in 1985 and since then has remained at the forefront of Tissue Banking in the UK. John initiated the formation of the British Association for Tissue Banking in the early 1990’s and became its first President. He also served as Secretary of the British Burn Association for four years and is (or has been) on the Editorial Board for numerous journals (including Burns, Cryobiology, Advances in Tissue Banking etc). John has published over seventy papers on Tissue Banking and Tissue Engineering. He has acted as advisor and been on the board of numerous national and international Tissue Bank start ups, including the first NBS Tissue Bank in Cambridge. He has also been a member of various Department of Health commissioned committees drawing up Codes of Practice for Tissue Banking and Tissue Engineering.

Dr Ruth Warwick

Ruth is Consultant Specialist for NHS Blood and Transplant and she qualified in Medicine in 1973 from Bristol University and subsequently specialised in Haematology. She is fellow of both the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Pathologists. She obtained her first consultant job at the Queen Charlottes/ Hammersmith Hospital group of hospitals in 1980. In 1993 she joined the National Blood Service as a Consultant Haematologist specialising initially in haemopoietic stem cell and tissue donation and later concentrating on the Tissue Services aspects providing medical input into all aspects of the service. She has represented the UK at the Council of Europe Expert Group regarding safety and quality assurance for organs tissues and cells 2002-2005 and was the tissue banking representative on the Committee which produced guidance on the microbiological safety of human tissues and organs used in transplantation for the Department of Health, 2000 (MSBT 2000). She has had a number of key advisory roles for the Department of Health Transplant Policy Unit. She has over 60 published papers and chapters relating to blood transfusion, tissues and cells. She is currently President of the British Association for Tissue Banking.

Dr Paul Rooney

Paul joined the National Blood Service in 2003 and is currently Research and Development Manager for Tissue Services. He obtained his PhD from the University of London in 1984 and spent approximately 20 years performing academic research into connective tissues, particularly bone and cartilage. Paul currently holds an Honorary Lectureship from Manchester University and was Chair of the British Association for Tissue Banking Research Special Interest Group from 2005 – 2007. Paul is a registered Clinical Scientist and runs the Tissue Development Laboratory which performs validations on existing tissue grafts and processes and is involved in new tissue graft development. He is on the Editorial Board of Cell and Tissue Banking and has published more that 30 scientific articles on connective tissue research.

Dr Richard Lomas

Richard Joined the NBS in 1997, having previously worked for the Yorkshire Regional Tissue Bank. He holds a Bsc (Hons) degree in Genetics from the University of Leeds, and was awarded a PhD for work in bone grafting from the same university in 2001. He currently works as a Senior Clinical Development Scientist, working to ensure that the services provided by NHSBT-TS meet surgeon's requirements, and co-ordinating clinical evaluations of new services. Richard has worked on numerous projects to improve methods for the banking of bone, tendon, skin and cardiovascular grafts and has authored many peer reviewed publications in this area. He is a recognised international expert in process validation and qualification in tissue banking, and has taught this subject on many training courses.

Helen Gillan

Helen Gillan is Head of Operations for Tissue Services. In 1992 she graduated from the University of Leeds and joined the Yorkshire Regional Tissue Bank at Wakefield. Helen facilitated the transfer of activity from Wakefield and Wrexham tissue banks into the state of the art, purpose built facility in Liverpool. Helen is an ISO 9001:2000 qualified lead auditor and worked for the British Standards Institute for 2 years. She is a Director of the British Association for Tissue Banking.

Amanda Ranson

Amanda is the Area Tissue Donation Manager for the South and has worked in Tissue Banking since 1999. She is a registered Clinical Scientist in Tissue Banking and Good Manufacturing Practice and also a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist with the American Association of Tissue Banks. She has a BSc (Hons) in Applied and Human Biology from the University of Aston, in Birmingham and is currently studying for a MSc in Transfusion, Transplantation and Tissue Banking at the University of Edinburgh. She is a Director of the British Association for Tissue Banking. As the Area Tissue Donation Manager, Amanda is responsible for all aspects of the tissue donation programmes (living and deceased) from the Southern regions of England and leads a Donation team consisting of highly skilled Nurses/Scientists.

Dr. Akila Chandrasekar

Akila, Associate Specialist in NHSBT, joined the Tissue Services team at Speke in 2005. She qualified in Medicine in 1986 from Madurai- Kamaraj University in India. She underwent postgraduate training in the UK and subsequently specialised in Transfusion Medicine. She is a Fellow of Royal College of Pathologists. She was Chair of the British Association for Tissue Banking Clinical Special Interest Group from 2006-2009 and in their Executive Committee since 2009. She joined Specialist advisory Committee for Care and Selection of Donors in 2010. She provides medical support to Tissue Services and contributes to their clinical development work. She is interested in teaching and training.

Kyle Bennett

Kyle has worked in tissue banking since 2000. He has a BSc (Hons) in applied Biology from Staffordshire University and is a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist with the American Association of Tissue Banks. Kyle is an active member of the British Association for Tissue Banks having previously held positions on the Executive Committee. In 2003 Kyle joined the project group tasked with the design, build, validation and qualification of a new purpose built facility in Liverpool. Kyle is currently the Tissue Bank Manager of the Liverpool facility with responsibilities for processing, storage and issue of donor tissue for the North of England.