Science
A tribute to Donald Longmore
Our Chief Executive and Medical Director have paid tribute to BHF-funded surgeon Professor Donald Longmore, who sadly passed away last month.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths and Professor Sir Nilesh Samani said Prof Longmore’s work alongside other pioneering surgeons paved the way for today’s life saving heart transplant surgery.
Gift of a heart
The surgeon first applied for BHF funding in 1963 with the idea that a heart could be transplanted from one person to another. He later told the BHF in an interview:
We applied for a British Heart Foundation grant, Sir Thomas Sellors and me, in 1963, and we were told that the roars of laughter could be heard two or three blocks away”.
Professor Longmore and his colleagues set up a lab at the Royal Veterinary College, accumulating vast amounts of knowledge in the field to prepare to one day give someone the gift of a heart. Despite scepticism from the scientific community, Professor Longmore and team defied advice that heart transplants would not work in humans, and the first successful heart transplant took place in 1968.
Thousands of patients have since been saved by heart transplantation across the world.
"Unwavering commitment"
Our Chief Executive, Dr Charmaine Griffiths said:
“Professor Longmore had an unwavering commitment to advancing heart transplant surgery. His legacy is etched in every beat of the hearts he mended and the lives he saved, and we thank him for the tremendous impact he had in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and the entire medical community.”
"Enduring legacy"
Our Medical Director Prof Sir Nilesh Samani said:
“It is thanks to pioneers like Prof Donald Longmore who led the way in scientific research back in the 1960s that heart transplantation is now saving lives all across the world. He has left the world an enduring legacy and the British Heart Foundation is proud to have supported his work.”