Transplantation surgery involves assessment and selection of potential recipients, selection and management of organ donors (including living donors) and the surgery required for both.

There is an extremely wide scope for relevant research, in areas such as molecular and cellular immunology, immunogenetics, stem cell medicine, tissue engineering and organ preservation.

The most important clinical problems at the moment are the shortage of donor organs, chronic organ/allograft rejection and the side effects of immunosuppression and all these are being addressed by innovative research. For example, people are researching the use of artificial organs, improved approaches to tissue matching and more effective immunosuppressive drugs with fewer side effects.