Sir Roy Calne, renowned liver surgeon, dies aged 93

We are saddened to hear the news that Sir Roy Calne, the distinguished organ transplantation surgeon, passed away today aged 93. Sir Roy undertook the UK's first successful liver transplant operation at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge in 1968, and in 1987 performed the world's first liver, heart and lung transplant with the Royal Papworth Hospital's John Wallwork.

Sir Roy was known to many of us within the MAA and was a keynote speaker at our 60th anniversary conference at Madingley Hall, Cambridge in April 2009. (photo above shows Sir Roy in the front row, 4th from the right) Sir Roy, Emeritus Professor of surgery at the university, was described by a member of the audience as 'The Godfather of transplant surgery'. His address focussed on the roles of Surgery and Art and how intertwined they really are, discussing how surgeons themselves use artwork to convey a message to patients, in medical notes, and to plan complex surgeries, such as multiple organ transplantations. Sir Roy was renowned for producing his own artwork, not only of surgical procedures, but of his patients, and the stories behind each patient. It was a great honour to be shown some of his work, and afterwards we all had a renewed appreciation and insight into surgery and art from all perspectives.

The image below shows one of Sir Roy's own artworks: 'An empty abdomen during a six-organ transplant'. Watercolour by Sir Roy Calne, 1994.

Credit: This file comes from Wellcome Images, a website operated by Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom. Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-03-23): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/w66ckpnr CC-BY-4.0