UBC Faculty of Medicine professor Dr. Paul Anthony Keown has been awarded the Clinical Trials BC Leadership & Advocacy Award for his outstanding contributions to organ transplant research, clinical trials and medicine.
Dr. Keown, a professor of nephrology in UBC’s department of medicine, is a distinguished clinician and trialist with four decades of leadership in clinical trials advancement, advocacy and mentorship in British Columbia and beyond. His research focuses on immunology, organ transplant and precision medicine — where information about someone’s genes, lifestyle and environment is used to improve treatment decision.
The award recognizes leaders who educate, mentor, advocate or spearhead projects, programs and strategies that benefit the clinical trials community in British Columbia and nationally.
“The award is a great honour. And to have it conferred by colleagues and friends of many years is wonderful,” said Dr. Keown. “I’m delighted.”
Dr. Keown, who also leads the Precision Medicine in Transplantation Research Excellence Cluster at UBC, is a visionary leader who has helped create a culture of innovation and mentorship by advancing innovative trial methods and designs. He has spent countless hours training and guiding the next generation of clinicians, biostatisticians and clinical trialists. His ongoing leadership and advocacy on dozens of international advisory committees and boards inspires clinical trial excellence and collaboration globally.
Fostering transplant innovation in B.C.
Dr. Keown was foundational in building an environment in B.C. that advances research for new treatments. After training in medicine, immunobiology and transplantation in the UK, France and Ontario, he moved to Vancouver where he played a key role in establishing multi-organ transplant networks in B.C. His early leadership roles, including Executive Director of BC Transplant and President of the Canadian Society of Transplantation, set the stage for groundbreaking clinical initiatives.
He led one of the first clinical trials in B.C.’s proteomics unit in Victoria, which studies the role of certain proteins on a donated organ that can signal if a recipient’s immune system would reject the organ.
With the intention to bridge the academia-led research and industry, Dr. Keown founded Syreon Corporation in 1995, a Vancouver-based research organization. Under Dr. Keown’s leadership, Syreon continues to maintain strong affiliations with academic sites across B.C., employ local talent, and contribute to the local economy.
Pushing the boundaries of clinical trial design
Over the years, Dr. Keown has worked to make clinical trials more efficient and accessible. For instance, he championed new trial designs that allow for changes in response to real-time participant data and advocated for trials that let people who live far away from major research hospitals participate.
His advocacy and leadership have resulted in now widely implemented and accepted trial designs, created better outcomes for participants and ultimately benefited patients in a lasting way.
This summer, he is starting the world’s first clinical trial using what is known as epitope matching for organ transplants. The research, which includes centres across Canada, looks at proteins on a donated organ that could trigger rejection — and tries to find a match so close that the recipient’s body thinks the organ is its own. As lead investigator, Dr. Keown is leading the multi-partner study supported by Genome BC, Genome Canada, Michael Smith Health Research BC and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
“The excitement will be if we can carry it forward one more step to where people will get their kidney and never have to take immune suppressing drugs,” he says. “I think that is now within our grasp.”
A lasting legacy in science and medicine
Dr. Keown stands as a vital figure in transplant-focused clinical trials. His work saves lives and has helped position B.C. as a national hub for clinical trial excellence.
Dr. Keown wishes that some of his mentors and colleagues from his early career could see how far the field has come. When he first began his medical career, rejection rates for new kidneys were close to 80 percent. Rejection rates are much lower now, thanks in part to his contributory clinical trials work evaluating treatments that stop the immune system from attacking a new organ and advances in organ matching.
“To me, it’s the most exciting thing,” he says. “I would do all of this again even if I didn’t get paid for it. It’s science at the highest level. And it’s working with great people to provide benefits to the patients we care for. Who would want more than that? I’ve been very fortunate.”
A version of this story originally appeared on the Michael Smith Health Research BC website.