Three women have donated their hearts to medical research at the very moment they received life-saving transplants, in a coordinated act of generosity that is now driving forward work on heart failure treatments and lab-grown valves.
Katie James, Kara Terol and Hannah Sharma — all of whom had heart transplants before the age of 35 — chose to pass on their old organs to scientists rather than let them be discarded. Their donated tissue has since been used in multiple research projects, including a major heart failure study at Imperial College London funded by the British Heart Foundation.
‘That heart wasn’t what makes me me’
Hannah Sharma, now 35, was 28 when she received her transplant. The events manager from Hadlow Down in Sussex had been diagnosed with heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition thought to have been triggered by a virus. It causes the heart’s main pumping chamber to stretch and thin, making it harder to pump blood effectively.
Speaking about her decision to donate, she said: “That heart wasn’t what makes me ‘me’, and I was happy to give it to scientists who needed it. I just hope it can help others, so that fewer transplants are needed in the future.”
Kara Terol, now 38, was pregnant when she was told she had restrictive cardiomyopathy, which causes part of the heart to become stiff. She only discovered the condition after volunteering for a study looking at how pregnancy affects the heart. She said she had been experiencing symptoms “for years” but had thought it was asthma. Her son George was born in 2018, but three years later she was told she would need a new heart because the condition had placed too much strain on her lungs.
“The donor who gave me my heart helped me more than anyone ever could, and so I wanted to pass that help on with my own heart,” she said.
Katie James had her heart transplant a decade ago, when she was 32. She had been diagnosed at age 20 with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, a rare condition in which heart cells do not stick together properly, causing the muscle to weaken. Now 41, she said: “I had absolutely no hesitation about donating my heart to help advance medical knowledge. It is simple – I wouldn’t be here without science and research, so it is the least I can offer. I didn’t say no to donating my heart, and I don’t say no to very much now. As I tell people, you only live once – or you only live twice, as I feel I have done after getting my new heart.”
How the hearts are advancing research into heart failure
Tissue from all three women has been used in a heart failure study at Imperial College London, supported by the British Heart Foundation. People with heart failure have a lack of a protein called SERCA, which causes their heart to beat weaker than normal. Scientists working on the project were able to add the protein back into heart cells provided by living donors, helping the cells beat more strongly in a lab dish.
If the findings are replicated in humans, the approach could lead to treatments that help the heart pump stronger, reducing symptoms of heart failure such as tiredness and breathlessness. A new study will test this method in people using a gene therapy to deliver SERCA directly to heart cells. The clinical trial, known as CUPID2, has been investigating the safety and efficacy of this gene therapy at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Paving the way for lab-grown heart valves
Separately, the hearts of Hannah Sharma and Katie James have helped scientists at Imperial College London move closer to creating heart valves in a laboratory. Currently, patients needing valve replacement have two main options: mechanical valves, which require patients to take drugs for life to prevent clotting, or biological valves made from animal tissue that typically fail within 10 to 15 years.
Dr Najma Latif, who has led the valve research, said: “These people make discoveries possible that would otherwise never be achieved, which can transform the lives of others.”
In addition, tissue from the hearts of Kara Terol and Katie James has been studied to determine how the organ’s normal electrical signals were disrupted by cardiomyopathy. Researchers hope that by identifying the specific damaged cells that cause the most disruption they can develop more targeted treatments for the disease.
‘An incredible act’
Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, praised the women’s decision. “Giving the gift of an organ donation is an incredible act, and yet we rarely talk about the extraordinary living heart donors,” he said. “These are people who look to the future and decide their old heart could help others – even as they prepare for the life altering journey of a heart transplant and the long recovery that follows.
“Their decision to donate their heart for research opens the door to discoveries that can only be made through examination of real human tissue, allowing researchers to identify the cause of heart diseases, test new ideas and refine treatments. We cannot thank these people enough for the vital part they play in driving scientific innovation and progress.”
The Heart, Lung and Critical Care Biobank at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals oversees the storage of tissue from heart donors. Harshil Bhayani, the biobank’s manager, said: “These contributions are more than samples – they represent a lasting legacy that supports progress in research and benefits future generations.”
