Media Release: UM kidney transplant expert honoured with lifetime achievement award
A UM physician-scientist who was instrumental in establishing Canada’s national network for kidney donation and transplantation was honoured on Dec. 5 with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian Blood Services (CBS).
Dr. Peter Nickerson, distinguished professor of internal medicine and immunology, is a transplant nephrologist (kidney specialist) at Health Sciences Centre (HSC) and medical consultant to the transplant immunology lab located there, which evaluates compatibility between kidney donors and recipients.
He is internationally recognized for groundbreaking research that has significantly improved patients’ access to life-prolonging kidney transplants and reduced their risk of organ rejection.
The Lifetime Achievement Award honours “extraordinary, world-class impact” in transfusion or transplantation science or medicine.
“What I’m most proud of is that we’re achieving better outcomes for patients,” Nickerson said. “Not only are we getting more transplants done, we’re having better outcomes, with those transplants lasting longer.
“I am extremely grateful to Canadian Blood Services for this award. The fact that CBS had already established a national network for blood and blood products in 1998 provided us with the framework to create the inter-provincial organ-sharing network in 2008.”
Nickerson, a 1986 UM medical alum, has held many leadership roles at the university. He has served since 2022 as vice-provost (health sciences) and dean of the Max Rady College of Medicine and the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.
Reflecting on more than 30 years of innovative research, he recalled that HSC’s transplant program was the first in Canada to make flow cytometry-based crossmatching of kidney donors and recipients a standard of care. It subsequently became the national standard.
Nickerson and his team then advocated for a nationwide kidney-sharing network. Through their efforts, Canadian Blood Services now operates the National Living Donation Program and the Kidney Paired Donation Program, which have enabled thousands of Canadians to give and receive transplanted organs beyond their home provinces.
Nickerson’s research team has also been a world leader in developing precision medicine for kidney transplant immunosuppression, meaning that the dose of medication given to prevent organ rejection is tailored to the recipient’s genetic profile.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Nickerson’s roles have included medical director of Transplant Manitoba, medical advisor to Canadian Blood Services and Flynn Family Chair in Renal Transplantation at UM.
His honours include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Society of Transplantation, the Medal for Research Excellence from the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Rose Payne Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics.
For more information: Ilana.Simon@umanitoba.ca