Inauguration of the Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory

The Molecular Laboratory at the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism was dedicated on March 13, 2012 by Dr. M.S. Seshadri, former Professor and Head of the Department. At the inaugural function, Dr. Thomas Paul, Associate Professor, welcomed the gathering and Rev. Dr. Malhia Joshua shared a brief meditation and prayer. Dr. M.S. Seshadri recalled the early days of the Department and expresed his happiness at seeing his dream of a molecular laboratory come to fruition. Felicitations were offered by the Director, Dr. Suranjan Bhattacharji, the Principal, Dr. Alfred Job Daniel and the Acting Medical Superintendent, Dr. Jacob Jose. Dr. Nihal Thomas, Professor and Head of the Department, welcomed other departments to collaborate with the Department of Endocrinology on various projects and avail the latest DNA sequencing technology. The inscription plaque was unveiled by Dr. Lakshmi and Dr.M.S.Seshadri. Mr. Aaron Chapla, Associate Research Officer, gave a brief of the equipment installed in the Laboratory. Among others, the equipment includes a Step One Plus Real Time PCR and an Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine. The former provides conventional and real time PCR applications. The latter ennables researchers to focus on sequencing common and rare variants in candidate regions of the human genome to understand the molecular basis of various genetic disorders. The Molecular Lab will help improve diagnostics and contribute to an understanding of the pathogenesis of various endocrine disorders.