Transplant Immunology

Division of Transplant Immunology

For over 40 years, the Transplant Immunology Laboratory has played a key role in supporting the Multi-Organ Transplant Program at London Health Sciences Centre, one of Canada’s leading transplant centres. This lab is the only laboratory of its kind in Southwestern Ontario and services an area from Windsor to Kitchener, and as far north as Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. The lab is certified by American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI).

Annually, approximately 160 patients receive live-saving kidney, heart, liver, combined kidney/pancreas or combined liver/kidney transplants. Most of the organs are from deceased donors but the living donor program expands every year as the need for organ donors continues to rise.

The laboratory also provides histocompatibility support for the allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation program and plays a key role in risk assessment and donor selection for patients who need live-saving stem cell transplants. Currently transplants done at London Health Sciences Centre are solely from related donors such as a brother or sister. In the near future, this will be expanded to unrelated donors from registries worldwide.

Additionally, the laboratory provides testing for patients with refractory platelet transfusions and other HLA-associated diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis and celiac disease.

This specialized laboratory focuses on HLA-related clinical tests using various methods:

HLA typing with DNA-based molecular methods including SSP (sequencing specific primers), SSO (sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes) and, in the future, DNA sequencing.
Determining specificities for anti-HLA antibodies with solid phase multiplex Luminex array.
Cross matching lymphocytes from donors with sera from recipients using flow cytometry.

The Transplant Immunology Laboratory acts in collaboration with provincial (Trillium Gift of Life Network), national (Canadian Blood Services) and many international donor registries to better serve our patients.