Saturday, June 6, 2015

NTR health university to join hands with Harvard Medical School for setting up laboratory

NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) will soon become one of the few institutions in the country to have a Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) typing and cross-matching laboratory. Accordingly, the Harvard Medical School (HMS) will provide technical know-how for the lab to be set up by NTRUHS at an estimated cost of Rs. 2 crore to Rs. 3 crore.

The laboratory will come in handy for the implementation of the Cadaver Transplant Programme (CTP), also called ‘Jeevandan’, under which tissue-typing is done to ensure compatibility of organs.

Besides, it can generate income for the government by rendering HLA typing and cross-matching services to the needy beyond the ambit of the CTP.

NTRUHS Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of the Appropriate Authority for Cadaver Transplantation (Andhra Pradesh) T. Ravi Raju during his recent visit to the US met Ajay K. Singh, Associate Dean for Global Education at HMS, who suggested a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for taking the project forward.

Dr. Ravi Raju conveyed the same to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu through the top brass of Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare and got a positive response but it is yet to reach the stage of signing MoU.

“The proposed laboratory will save precious time while ascertaining the types of organs of donors and recipients,” Dr. Raju said. He also expressed hope that the government would seize the opportunity at the earliest.

According to NTRUHS Director (R&D) G. Krishna Murthy, the lab will reduce the State’s dependence on the NIMS.

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