The College is delighted to announce that the winners of the Percy Lane Oliver Memorial Award 2025 (Scientific or Technical Category) are Julie Staves and Nicole Thornton for their outstanding contribution to blood transfusion medicine.

The standard of applications was extremely high this year, and after much deliberation the panel awarded the prize to 2 recipients. Both winners were presented with their award at the BBTS Annual Conference held on 14-16 October 2025.

Julie Staves

Julie Staves, is a Transfusion Laboratory Manager at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, a position she has held since 2000.

Julie is the current Chair for the Laboratory Managers Advisory Group within England's National Blood Transfusion Committee, representing Transfusion Laboratory Managers on various other committees and contributes towards writing and updating Transfusion guidelines and papers.

Julie is also the incoming President of the British Blood Transfusion Society.

Julie's primary focus is ensuring that transfusion laboratories are represented in clinical processes and to ensure that the blood components are utilised in an appropriate manner. She is very interested in the use of information technology to enhance laboratory blood transfusion services, benefiting both staff and patients alike.

 

 Nicole Thornton

Nicole Thornton is the Head of NHS Blood and Transplant’s International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL) Red Cell Reference department and the UK National Frozen Blood Bank. Originally from Australia, Nicole earned her undergraduate degree in Medical Laboratory Science from RMIT University in Melbourne before moving to Bristol in 2000 to take up what she describes as her “dream job” as a scientist at IBGRL. That move marked the beginning of an impactful career in transfusion science.

Nicole is internationally recognised for her expertise in blood groups, antibody identification, rare blood provision, and blood group discovery. She has played a central role in maintaining IBGRL’s status as one of the world’s leading reference centres for red cell immunohaematology. She oversees the International Rare Donor Panel, working to support patients with complex and rare blood needs both in the UK and internationally. 

Nicole currently serves as Chair of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Working Party (WP) on Immunohaematology and Vice Chair of the ISBT WP on Red Cell Immunogenetics & Blood Group Terminology. She is also a Standing Executive Committee Member of the ISBT WP on Rare Donors, a Founding Member of the European Blood Alliance Rare Blood Provision Working Group, and Chair of the JPAC Special Advisory Committee for Immunohaematology. 

Nicole’s dedication to advancing transfusion science is matched by her passion for utilising science to achieve improved clinical outcomes—especially for patients with the rarest and most complex needs.

Julie Staves, Dr Shruthi Narayan and Nicole Thornton attending the BBTS Annual Conference
 

​​History of The Percy Lane Oliver Memorial Award

Percy Lane Oliver won international renown for creating, as a member of the Camberwell Division of the Red Cross, the world’s first voluntary blood donor service in 1921. The Oliver Memorial Fund was established in 1944, following his death, to perpetuate his memory and to, "uphold the principle of voluntary blood donation; give public recognition to both professional and lay people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Science, Practice or Administration of Blood Transfusion; and ensure that the name and work of Percy Lane Oliver is recorded in medical history."

In 2001, the Royal College of Pathologists took over the task of administering the Oliver Memorial Fund through Annual Awards to recognise achievements in transfusion medicine. The review process is overseen by the Transfusion Medicine Specialty Advisory Committee.