Yueran Fan

I obtained an Upper Second Class Honours degree in Biological Sciences from Imperial College London, where my final-year dissertation involved developing a research proposal focused on investigating the interplay between inflammation, ageing, N-glycosylation patterns, and heart injury in brain-dead donors. Then I was admitted to the University of Oxford to pursue an MSc by Research in Surgical Sciences, and relocated to Bristol, where I am conducting research under the supervision of Associate Professor Maria Kaisar on the investigation of the impact of deceased donor age and systemic inflammation on heart tissue injury following brain death.

I am currently a first year MSc (Research) student at NHS Blood and Transplant supervised by Associate Professor Maria Kaisar. My research focuses on understanding how donor age and systemic inflammation contribute to heart tissue injury following brain death. Using samples from the QUOD biobank, the project aims to identify molecular signatures of inflammation, fibrosis, and cellular senescence that may explain reduced transplant outcomes in older or highly inflamed donors. This work seeks to improve the assessment and utilisation of donor hearts in transplantation.