A team of researchers based in Brisbane played a role in a world first surgery, when a pig’s heart was successfully transplanted into a man in the US.

The surgery took place at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine in the US.

It was considered the last hope to save 57-year-old David Bennett, who has terminal heart disease.

The University of Queensland’s Dr Louise See Hoe lead the pre-clinical research and explained how the Brisbane Critical Care Research Group, a team based at the Princes Charles Hospital, helped play a role in the successful transplant.

“We lead a lot of the pre-clinical work that lay the foundations for the Australian clinical trial that’s being lead out of Melbourne at the moment, and the outcomes of the clinical trial essentially I think gave the American team the confidence to use the preservation system we have been trialling in their pig to human heart transplant,” she told Sofie Formica.

Dr See Hoe said it was nice to know researchers and medical professionals can connect across the world to “push science and medicine forward”.

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