GUWAHATI, Sept 14 - A session titled �Update on Advances in Cancer Research� was held in the auditorium of the Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) on September 10.
The programme began with a welcome address by Dr Amal Ch Kataki, Director, BBCI, and Chairman, Cancer Research Foundation, India, who laid emphasis on collaborative and translational research. It was inaugurated by Dr Sunita Saxena, Director, National Institute of Pathology, New Delhi.
Speakers at the update session were Dr Sunita Saxena, Dr Fouzia Siraj and Dr Poonam Gautam from the National Institute of Pathology, New Delhi, and Prof Manab Deka from the Gauhati University (GU).
Dr Saxena spoke about the genetic aspects of nasopharyngeal and oesophageal carcinoma. Dr Fouzia Siraj and Dr Poonam Gautam deliberated on fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH) techniques and the role of proteomics in cancer research, respectively.
Prof Manab Deka gave an insight about recent research findings of his team regarding molecular changes in gall-bladder cancer.
Different sessions were chaired by Prof Arun Goyal from IIT, Guwahati, Prof Jagannath Dev Sharma, Prof Bhabesh K Das, Prof Cidananda Bhuyan, Dr Bibhuti B Borthakur and Dr Anupam Sarma from BBCI, and Prof Roonmoni Deka and Dr Jadunath Borgohain from the Guwahati Medical College.
The update session was attended by over 130 participants from the GU, Guwahati Medical College and BBCI.
The hands-on workshop was held on September 11 and 12 at the DBT centre of BBCI, which was attended by 13 research scholars and biotechnologists from different parts of the Northeast. The workshop focused on training the participants on advanced procedures like DNA/RNA isolation and PCR techniques. Basic research scientists from BBCI conducted the workshop.
�Cancer research has made substantial progress in the developed countries. Even in some parts of India, significant progress has been made. The incidence of cancer in the Northeast is the highest in the country. Till sometime ago, medical research in the north-eastern region was in a state of infancy. Of late, active participation of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Regional Medical Research Centre, Dibrugarh, and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India, has resulted in a significant impact on various researches on cancer,� BBCI Director Dr Kataki said.
