An accomplished Vancouver transplant immunologist at the forefront of organ transplant medicine is this year’s recipient of Clinical Trials British Columbia’s Leadership & Advocacy Award.

Dr. Paul Anthony Keown is a distinguished clinician and trialist with four decades of contributions to 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 make the best treatment decision.

The award recognizes an outstanding leader and advocate for clinical trials at the local, provincial, or national level. It celebrates leaders who educate, mentor, advocate or spearhead projects, programs, and strategies that benefit BC’s clinical trials community.

“The award is a great honour. And to have it conferred by colleagues and friends of many years is wonderful,” Paul says. “I’m delighted.”

He is a visionary leader who has helped create a culture of innovation and mentorship by advancing innovative trial methods and designs. He has also spent countless volunteer hours training and guiding the next generation of clinicians, biostatisticians, and trialists. His ongoing leadership and advocacy, on dozens of international advisory committees and boards, inspires clinical trial excellence and collaboration.

He was foundational in building an environment in BC that advances research for new treatments. After training in medicine, immunobiology, and transplantation in the UK, France, and Ontario, Paul was invited to move to Vancouver, where he played a key role in establishing multi-organ transplant networks in BC. 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 BC’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 attack the organ. That unit was the province’s first to become certified for Good Clinical Practice, Good Laboratory Practice, and Good Manufacturing Practice, which are instrumental in upholding trial integrity and patient safety.

With the intention to bridge academia-led research and industry, Paul founded Syreon Corporation in 1995, a Vancouver-based research organization, originally part of the Discovery Parks Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Under Paul’s leadership, Syreon continues to maintain strong affiliations with academic sites across BC, employ local talent, and contribute to the local economy.

Paul’s 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.

Over the years, Paul has worked to make clinical trials more efficient. For example, he has championed new designs that allow for changes in response to real-time data from participants. He also advocated for trials that let people who live far away from major research hospitals participate.

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 certain 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, Paul 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.”

Paul stands as a vital figure in transplant-focused clinical trials. His work saves lives. It has also helped position BC as a national hub for clinical trial excellence and established benchmarks followed across continents. His only wish is that some of his mentors and colleagues from his early career could see how far the field has come.

When Paul began his medical career, successful organ transplants were in their infancy. He says rejection rates for new kidneys were close to 80 percent. He recalls about half of his patients losing the new kidney within six months. Many died. 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.”