Professor Lorna Marson

Clinical Interests

Professor Marson has an interest in renal transplantation, both in the context of living and deceased donation. She is also involved in the pancreas transplant programme.

Appointments and Activities

Current

Professor Marson was awarded a Personal Chair in Transplant surgery in August 2018, having worked as a Senior Lecturer (2004-15) and Reader (2015-18) at the University of Edinburgh.

She has a clinical research portfolio that encompasses factors affecting cold ischaemic time, the impact of the virtual cross match and the management of antibody-mediated rejection. In the laboratory, Professor Marson has worked to develop models of renal transplantation, exploring possible mechanisms for reducing ischaemia reperfusion injury and chronic allograft injury. She has undertaken pipeline research in the effect of heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) induction in renal transplant ischaemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and has been awarded a programme grant from Kidney Research UK to run a multi-centre clinical trial of heme arginate in deceased donor renal transplantation. In the lab, she works in collaboration with Dr Laura Denby, exploring the role of specific microRNAs in renal IRI and chronic allograft damage.

She has a supervisory role for several PhD and MD students, particularly surgical trainees, as well as supervising undergraduate medical and immunology students. She is lead for Diversity and Respect for Edinburgh Medical School.

• Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2024
• Consultant transplant surgeon, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, working clinically as a renal transplant surgeon
• College Dean of Admissions, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, 2018-24.
• Chair of Scottish Medical Schools’ Admissions Group, Member, Scottish Medical Schools’ Board (2019-24).
• Associate Medical Director, Research and Development, Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, NHSBT. (2021-24)
• Director, UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Research Network, 2018-24
• President of British Transplantation Society, 2017-19

Past

Professor Marson underwent her undergraduate training at St. Thomas' Hospital, London, qualifying in 1990. She underwent her early postgraduate training on a Basic Surgical Training Rotation at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and Higher Surgical Training on the South East Scotland Training Rotation.

Clinically she has worked with colleagues in the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics department to develop a programme of ABO and HLA incompatible transplants. She has led the development of living donor transplants in the region, and formed part of the working group that established national commissioning for renal transplantation in Scotland. She is involved in postgraduate training, and was Training Programme Director in General Surgery (2013-15), and Associate Dean for Surgery, SE Scotland region (2015-17).

Clinician Scientist Award: May 2003 (5 years), Academy of Medical Sciences/Health Foundation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
• Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), England
• Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), Edinburgh
• Doctor of Medicine (MD)
• Honorary European Diploma in Transplantation Surgery
• Fellow of Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPEd)