The College is delighted to announce that the winners of the Percy Lane Oliver Memorial Award 2024 (Medical Category) are Dr Fiona Regan, Dr Shubha Allard and Dr Helen New for their outstanding contribution to blood transfusion medicine.

The standard of applications was extremely high this year, and after much deliberation the panel awarded the prize to three recipients. All three were presented with their award at the RCPath and SHOT Symposium held on 21 November 2024.

Dr Fiona Regan worked as a Consultant Haematologist in Transfusion, in a joint post with NHSBT & Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust for over 20 years, covering a broad range of specialties including Antenatal & Fetal medicine, Cardiothoracic, ITU, Renal medicine and Haemato-oncology. She was Clinical Lead for the Pathology Risk Committee, analysing and addressing incidents and audit findings with colleagues from all divisions of pathology including transfusion. At NHSBT I was an  RCI Consultant and Clinical Director for Diagnostics at NHSBT.

Fiona undertook undergraduate & postgraduate teaching including BSc supervision and was an Educational Supervisor for both medical and the first Consultant Clinical Scientist trainees in transfusion. She was also an RCPath examiner in Transfusion for many years and a transfusion representative on the London Regional Specialist Training Committee and BBTS representative on the RCPath Specialist Advisory Committee for Haematology 2007-10.

Fiona was Chair of the BBTS Standing Medical Advisory Committee, organising the annual BBTS meetings in 2016-18 and also undertook a number of clinical research studies in collaboration with colleagues, most recently in HLA matching of red cells for renal transplant patients. Fiona was a transfusion representative on the BSH national Guidelines Writing Group and led on the latest Antenatal Guideline on Antibodies in Pregnancy, which is due for publication

Dr Shubha Allard MD FRCP FRCPath has retired and returned as Consultant Haematologist at NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). She was appointed as co-opted RCPath Trustee in 2024. She undertook her medical undergraduate training at the University of Leeds where she also completed an MD and then moved to a Haematology Registrar rotation at St George’s NHS Trust, London. She was appointed Consultant Haematologist at the North-West London Hospitals NHS Trust where she gained considerable experience in malignant and non-malignant haematology disorders in adults and paediatrics before moving to a joint post at NHSBT with responsibility for the clinical and laboratory transfusion service at Barts Health NHS Trust.

Shubha returned from retirement, as a Consultant Haematologist at NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). She was appointed as co-opted RCPath Trustee in 2024. She greatly enjoyed her role as RCPath Clinical Director for Publications and Engagement and as Bulletin Editor for 4 years until 2023, interacting with medical and scientific colleagues across many pathology disciplines. She continues to support the College Specialist Advisory Committee for Transfusion and represents the College on the Board of Lab Tests Online UK, an NHS information portal on pathology tests for patients.

Dr Helen New is Consultant in Paediatric Transfusion Medicine at NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). She has been a national expert and leader in paediatric transfusion, combining direct paediatric transfusion clinical support (including apheresis), haemovigilance, blood component development and strategy, and research. She has promoted best practice via policy development, education, and paediatric transfusion and blood component guidelines. She led the writing group for the 2016/2020 British Society for Haematology (BSH) guidelines on fetal, neonatal and paediatric transfusion. She has also specialised in blood components, both within NHSBT and as Chair of the UK Blood Services’ Standing Advisory Committee for Blood Components, to provide safe, high quality components, including for patients with complex requirements.

Helen has undertaken national and international collaborative paediatric transfusion surveys and research, including randomised controlled trials, that have significantly contributed to the understanding and evidence base of paediatric transfusion practice. With colleagues in the NHSBT Component Development Laboratory, she studied the effect of genetic variants on risk of hyperkalaemia from red cell transfusion, changing UK wide donor selection policy to enhance safety of neonatal transfusions.

History of The Percy Lane Oliver Memorial Award

Percy Lane Oliver won international renown for creating, as a member of the Camberwell Division of the Red Cross, the world’s first voluntary blood donor service in 1921. The Oliver Memorial Fund was established in 1944, following his death, to perpetuate his memory and to, 'uphold the principle of voluntary blood donation; give public recognition to both professional and lay people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Science, Practice or Administration of Blood Transfusion; and ensure that the name and work of Percy Lane Oliver is recorded in medical history.'

In 2001, the Royal College of Pathologists took over the task of administering the Oliver Memorial Fund through Annual Awards to recognise achievements in transfusion medicine. The review process is overseen by the Transfusion Medicine Specialty Advisory Committee.