Wayne J. Hawthorne
Professor
FACBMS/PhD/MDSc/MHSc/Dip.HSc/Ass.Dip.HSc
wayne.hawthorne@sydney.edu.au
Centre for Transplant and Renal Research
Translational Transplantation Therapies Research Group
Currently open to PHD and Honours students in the topic areas of:
Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation
T1D Cure
Xenotransplantation
Xenograft Rejection
Machine Perfusion
Clinical Translation
Organ Shortages

Biography
Professor Wayne Hawthorne leads the clinical and experimental Islet and Organ Transplant Research Group developing Preclinical Studies and Translating them to Transplantation Therapies. He was appointed laboratory director in 2001 to Australia’s First Clinical Islet Transplant program; his team at Westmead were the first in Australia to perform both allo and auto islet cell isolation and transplantation and to perform islet after kidney and combined islet/kidney transplants in patients. He was one of the founding researchers of the Centre for Transplant and Renal Research where he remains responsible for experimental surgical research projects.
His work in the field of transplantation has underpinned his national and international success. In 2003 he became the Inaugural winner of the McKenzie Fellowship for Transplantation awarded by the Transplant Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ). In 2007, he was awarded A “Key Opinion Leader” in transplantation by The Transplantation Society (TTS) International. In 2010 he was awarded the prestigious XENOME Award for transplantation from the European Union, at the 16th Nantes/Actualités/Transplantation in France. In 2011 he was promoted to Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Westmead based on his continued work developing transplantation treatments for patients with Type 1 diabetes. Since this time, he has built on the experimental research program’s achievements, resulting in his award of the 2014 Kidney Health Australia and the TSANZ “Best Research in the Field of Laboratory Research” for his work on developing novel strategies for Islet Cell Xenotransplantation in preclinical studies. He was awarded a 2015-16 Australia-Harvard-Fellowship to further develop his skills in islet auto-transplantation at Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, USA. His ongoing work in the field of clinical Islet Cell Transplantation led to his 2018 Kidney Health Australia – TSANZ National Meeting “Best Research in the Field of Clinical Research” award. And once again in 2022 at the National meeting was awarded the Best Presentation – TSANZ National Meeting “Best Research in the Field of Laboratory Research” for his ongoing work in the field of Xenotransplantation.
Professor Hawthorne has outstanding international standing and his ongoing focus on Xenotransplantation has led to his appointment to several International Universities as a visiting Professor and he was again recently appointed – International Visiting Professor, to The Second Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, CHINA.
Along with him being voted in as President of the International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA), for his commitment to advancing xenotransplantation research. His strong international presence has been maintained as Congress Chair and Chair of several Scientific Organising Committees for the IXA including the combined IPITA/IXA/CTS 2023 congress in San Diego, USA, and now for the forthcoming 18th Congress of the International Xenotransplantation Association, taking place in Geneva – https://ixa2025.org/
He has >250 international medical journal publications, 20 books and book chapters and >650 published proceedings along with presenting numerous National and International presentations, including invited Plenary, SOTA, lectures, Podcasts and Webinars.
Research interests
Adjunct roles
Founding Member of The Type 1 diabetes node | University of Sydney Charles Perkins Centre |
Professor of Transplantation | Department of Surgery, University of Sydney. |
Director | National Pancreas and Islet Transplant Laboratories, WSLHD Immediate Past President, International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA). |
President | Australasian College of Biomedical Scientists (ACBMS). |
Chair | Xenotransplantation Working Group of The Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) |
Chair | Western Sydney Local Health District Animal Ethics Committee |
Additional information
ORCID ID: 0000000186383468
IXA President- https://tts.org/ixa-about/ixa-officers-and-council
TSANZ – Xenotransplantation Working Group- https://tsanz.com.au/committees/working-groups.htm
https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/about/our-people/academic-staff/wayne-hawthorne.html
International Transplantation Podcasts – https://tts.org/79-ixa/ixa-resources/1383-ixa-podcasts
Australasian College of Biomedical Scientists- https://www.acbms.org.au/
IXA congress 2025 – https://ixa2025.org/
USYD link – https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/about/our-people/academic-staff/wayne-hawthorne.html
Current grants
Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) | 2023 - 2026 | “Curing Diabetes using Transgenic Porcine Islet Xenotransplantation” |
Faculty of Medicine and Health and Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney HII-S2C Grant Competition | 2024 - 2025 | “Combining Dynamic Preservation and the Theragnostic Potential of Microbubbles to Improve the Assessment and Function of Marginal Kidney Grafts” |
Vice Chancellor The University of Sydney | 2024 | University of Sydney 2024 Strategic Research Grant Award |
Affiliations
School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, National Pancreas and Islet Transplant Laboratories, Department of Surgery, Westmead Hospital, Westmead
Professional Associations and Organisations
2023- | International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA) | Immediate Past President |
2021-2023 | International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA) | President |
2019-2021 | International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA) | President Elect |
2022- | Xenotransplantation Working Group- Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) | Chairman |
2017- | Australasian College of Biomedical Scientists | President |
2022- | International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association (IPITA) | |
2023- | Cell Transplant and Regenerative Medicine (CTRMS) |
Awards and recognition
2022 at the National meeting was awarded Kidney Health Australia and the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) - “Best Research in the Field of Laboratory Research” for his work in the field of Xenotransplantation. |
2018 Kidney Health Australia - Transplantation Society of Australia and New (TSANZ) National Meeting “Best Research in the Field of Clinical Research” award for Clinical Islet Transplantation. |
2015-16 Australia- Harvard University – Fellowship at Harvard University and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, USA. |
2014 Kidney Health Australia and the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) - “Best Research in the Field of Laboratory Research”. |
2010 XENOME Award (European Union), The award was presented at the 16th Nantes/Actualités/Transplantation, Nante, France. Xenome is an integrated project in the European Sixth Framework Programme (Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health). |
2007 Key Opinion Leader in Transplantation - The Transplant Society International (TTS). |
2003 Inaugural winner of the McKenzie Fellowship for Transplantation from the Transplant Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ). |