Karkinos Healthcare Private Limited (KHPL) and the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sept 2, 2022, for research collaboration on cancer diagnostics in the Northeast.
A Centre of Advanced Research on Diagnostics in Cancer (C-CARD), the first of its type with an IIT, would be established at IIT-G under the terms of the agreement with the Mumbai-registered healthcare technology company, according to a statement from the institute recently.
KHPL will set up the centre on the institute’s property and manage its operations there.
Its main objective will be to research cutting-edge and reasonably priced diagnostics for non-communicable diseases, particularly cancer, for patients across the country.
“IIT Guwahati aspires to strengthen its research and development arsenal and there is no better way to highlight the same in establishing C-CARD by KHPL, in the heart of our institute,” said IIT-G director T.G. Sitharam during the MoU signing ceremony.
“In the near future, we envision extending this centre of excellence with the activities of the Assam Advanced Healthcare Innovation Institute – the upcoming multi-speciality hospital at IIT Guwahati to inculcate next-generation scientific and technological innovations in the area of healthcare.”
The MoU signing was a part of the 29th foundation day celebration of IIT-Guwahati recently.
A comprehensive cancer atlas for the Northeast will be prepared as part of the initiatives outlined in the agreement, which also calls for the establishment of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) facilities as well as large-scale onco-diagnostic services in collaboration with Assam Cancer Care Hospitals throughout the State.
Other initiatives include developing high-end data analytics capability using AI and ML techniques, thorough genomic landscape identification for high-quality informatics for research and development, and capacity development through academic collaboration on clinical excellence and partnerships with biotech and pharma majors.
In the near future, IIT Guwahati and KHPL will work together on research projects in the fields of molecular biology, cell biology, genomics, proteomics, diagnostics, therapeutics, bioinformatics, data science, entrepreneurship development, and other multi-disciplinary and translational fields as a part of this initiative.
KPHL CEO R. Venkataramanan said: “Assam has made giant strides in cancer care and Karkinos is pleased to further these efforts and partner with IIT-G in bringing cutting-edge cancer diagnostics and advanced research to the people of Northeast. We see this as the first phase of a long and wide-ranging partnership that will redefine cancer care in the region and beyond.”
