March 17, 2010
Amrita School of Medicine, Kochi
The Indian Association of Cancer Research was founded in 1980. Based at the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai, this is India’s only association for cancer research. This year the association’s 29th Annual Meeting was hosted at Amrita’s Health Sciences campus.
Over 300 people from all over India participated. Prof. E. P. Reddy, Director, Fels Institute of Cancer Research from Philadelphia, USA, inaugurated the proceedings. “Medicines that can help eradicate cancer from the world are in the final stages of clinical trials,” he informed the audience.
Also present at the inauguration were Dr. Reetha Mulherkar, President, IACR, Dr. Thanuja Teni, Secretary, IACR, Dr. Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. T. S. Ganeshan, Chair, Cancer Institute and Institute of Molecular Medicine at Amrita.
Swami Poornamritananda Puri, General Secretary of the MA Math, delivered the benedictory address. “Everything that comes from love, is spiritual in nature,” he told the gathered scientists, who were perhaps all united in their love for their work.
All over the world, the scourge of cancer claims millions of lives every year. Now there is hope from new cancer drugs being developed. This annual meeting provided an important forum for scientists in cancer research to present their findings and the latest advances.
An eminent pathologist from London, Dr. K. Naresh, gave the annual IACR oration on lymphoma, a common cancer. Profs. Roy Bicknell and Dharmarajan, respectively from Birmingham and Australia, delivered two additional keynote addresses on targeting tumours in blood vessels.
Day 2 had sessions on Cell Signaling and Cancer, Molecular Genetics of Cancer, Clinical and Molecular Aspects of GI Malignancies.
These sessions were followed by sessions on Cancer Stem Cells and Drug Development (From Bench to Bedside) on Day 3.
All sessions featured talks by scientists from all over India and were chaired by eminent experts. Doctoral students and younger faculty also presented their research.
Scientists competed for awards such as the Sitaram Joglekar and Magala Bamane awards; Baxi and Kulkarni awards.
The conference, which was organized with the ultimate aim to set the tone for future cancer research in India, came to successful close on February 23, 2010.
About the Indian Association of Cancer Research
The association aims to advance research in all the aspects of cancer, promote interaction among scientists in this field and spread awareness about cancer among common people.
About the Host Center
The cancer center at Amrita is a fully comprehensive centre that provides all facilities to treat patients with cancer. Sophisticated laboratory facilities are available for doctors to undertake scientific research in cancer.
