Prof. Ian Aird


1905 - 1962

Surgeon, who developed the kidney transplant in the UK. Born in Edinburgh, Aird was educated at George Watson's College and the University of Edinburgh, from where he graduated in 1928. Appointed to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh in 1935, he went on to work in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. After service in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II, Aird was invited to take up the Chair of Surgery at the University of London in 1946.

His name first came to public notice when he separated the infant Siamese twins Boko and Tomo, who came to the UK from West Africa. This was the first time this operation had been undertaken in Britain.

He also carried out the first kidney transplant where donor and recipient were not identical twins and invented the pump oxygenator. Aird was a respected teacher and pioneered research on the links between blood groups and disease. His book A Companion to Surgical Studies (1949) was particularly well received and he wrote numerous scientific papers.

Aird died in London (England).


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