Warren’s Wish is a Scottish charity established to fund research into making more donor lungs viable for transplantation in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, and other life-limiting lung conditions.

The Background:

With a shortage of suitable donor lungs and a typical waiting time of 12-15 months for assessment, almost half of those who reside on the waiting list for lung transplants die before treatment can be offered. For those Cystic Fibrosis patients lucky enough to undergo a transplant, their life expectancy can increase by up to 10 years – it is therefore vital that we address how to increase the availability of donor lungs.

One of the primary reasons for such a shortage is the condition in which the lungs are received, with infection and inflammation being common and making them unviable. It has been suggested that perfusion of donor lungs after removal (from the French verb “perfuser“, meaning to “pour over/through”) might allow them to be ‘reconditioned’ and subsequently made suitable for transplant. If this hypothesis can be realised, it would significantly increase the availability of viable lungs, allow for easier transportation to their destination, and therefore shorten the waiting time to receive them.

Warren’s Wish was set up in 2015 in memory of 31 year old Warren Cummings, who sadly passed away while on the waiting list for a double lung transplant to treat the Cystic Fibrosis he was born with. Warren’s family and friends founded the charity in 2015 with the support of the University of Edinburgh, and the money raised is being used to fund a research team of scientists and medics to tackle the viability problem.

How is Proteus Involved?

[coming soon]