NE SCIENCE & TECH BUREAU
CHENNAI, JUNE 24
Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research is hosting a three-day Indo-US workshop on ‘Biomarkers in radiation exposure’ here from Monday. On Day-1, the workshop discussed emerging promising tools for screening affected people during a nuclear event.
- During nuclear events many people not exposed to radiation could also rush and block hospitals, rendering treatment to the really exposed people difficult: Dr Guy Garty, Director, Radiological Research Accelerator Facility and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University
- SRIHER as the docimetry centre for IGCAR, has inbuilt facilities to test new techniques: Prof. P. Venkatachalam, Head Human Genetics, SRIHER
- This workshop will promote emergency preparedness by training people needed to handle nuclear events: Dr. Uma Sekar, Vice Chancellor, SRIHER
In his inaugural speech, Dr Guy Garty, Director, Radiological Research Accelerator Facility and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University said that currently even large cytogenetic laboratory networks can only analyse some hundreds of samples a day. The Columbia centre has developed a miniaturised and automated blood based biodosimetry assays that can be performed on 96 well plates using robotic platforms. By leveraging existing commercial High Throughput cellular Screening (HTS) platforms for biodosimetry, which exist in many countries, thousands of samples can be analysed every day. During nuclear events many people not exposed to radiation could also rush and block hospitals, rendering treatment to the really exposed people difficult. To help triage a large number of people during such situations, this centre has developed a rapid yes/no tests similar to COVID tests and is awaiting FDA approval. These tests cannot determine dose, but can be used to screen out those who were not exposed reducing the required capacity for precise biodosimetry testing, he added.
Speaking on the occasion Prof. P. Venkatachalam, Head Human Genetics and convenor of the workshop said SRIHER as the docimetry centre for IGCAR, has inbuilt facilities to test new techniques. The SPARK (GoI’s scheme for promotion of academic and research) workshop was attended by 108 participants from 20 different organisations across the country which will help spread this knowledge and capacity.
Dr. Uma Sekar, Vice Chancellor, SRIHER said this workshop will promote emergency preparedness by training people needed to handle nuclear events. Prof. Venkat Sai, Radiology and Imaging Sciences and Dr. Sudha Warrier, Principal, faculty of biomedical sciences and technology were among those who participated in the event.
