Somaiya Vidyavihar organizes one-day symposium to enlighten students on stem cells and cancer

The symposium brought together renowned personalities in the field of cancer research including, Dr. Christopher J. Logothetis academicians, research students and industry delegates.

Dr. Christopher J Logothetis with participants, speakers for Cancer-India 2019 at Somaiya Vidyavihar.

One-day symposium on “Stem Cells & Cancer – India 2019” with theme of Detection and Therapeutic interventions of Stem cells in Cancer was organized by Sathgen Biotech A division of Godavari Biorefineries Limited, National Centre for Cell Sciences and Somaiya Vidyavihar.

The symposium brought together renowned personalities in the field of cancer research including, Dr. Christopher J. Logothetis academicians, research students and industry delegates.

Samir Somaiya, CMD, Godavari Biorefineries of which Sathgen Biotech is a division said, “Since its inception in 2007 Sathgen Biotech has been working on developing drugs, which could work to eliminate cancer stem cell population, drugs which will also work in combination with existing chemotherapies to eliminate cancer-related mortality. Stem cell therapy is a new targeted method being evaluated by various academic & research groups across the globe. This symposium is being organized to address the most updated research and information available in the area of cancer stem cell therapy. We believe that collaboration between Industry, Research Centres & Academic Institutions can work towards finding new and innovative methods to understand cancer & eventually circumvent it.”

Dr. Christopher J. Logothetis, Department Chair and Professor of the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA, said “Research is all about precision and how focused we are. In his journey, his research work experience in the hospital has helped him to upgrade his knowledge in healthcare. He further said that the future of science can be only improved if we work together.Former Director of Tata Memorial Centre Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer Dr. Chiplunkar said, she was also a student of Microbiology at Somaiya Vidyavihar. She further said, it is good to havea Research Centre and Hospital under one umbrella as the research can be enhanced and translated to clinical trails easily. She also spoke about importance of creating awareness about the causes of cancer, translation of all cancer related research for common man is needed.

Governing Council Member of K J Somaiya College of Science and Commerce Dr.Mani Sendurai, Co-Director, Center for Stem Cell & Developmental Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX mentioned that, “prevention is the best medicine ever” Diet & pre diagnosis is what we need to focus.

He also spoke about the biology of primary tumor growth as well as metastasis. He explained how more than 20,000 genes are affected by mutation and gene expression and how each one of them are co-relate with primary tumor.

Since Dr Bapat was the first one to propose a report on the isolation and identification of cancer stem cells in ovarian cancer, she spoke about the difficulties that she faced while preparing them. She gave an idea about the advancements made in the field of ovarian cancer in India and around the world.

The conference was organised at Somaiya Vidyavihar to enlighten students of Medical & Science College and other colleges about stem cells and cancer, pooling together the recent advances from the scientists and industry.

Shruti Joshi a student of T.Y.B.Sc. Zoology Department also pursuing Cancer Course studying in K J Somaiya College of Science and Commerce said, “This symposium gave me a platform to truly understand the inner workings of cancer and how the scientists actually deal with it on a patient and the research perspective. Above all, I got to learn the very perspective with which all those scientists who study cancer approach it in varied ways from their points of views. It is interesting to know how they come up with the advances that they do. Also, I hope to one day be a part of this journey that they are already on. The beauty of all this is I get the exposure that otherwise is pretty hard to get. To meet so many people from different walks of life, having the same question and goal really fascinated me”

Archana Unnikrishnan, a T.Y.B.Sc student of Chemistry said “The symposium helped me to understand the ongoing research in the field of cancer. It was a very great experience to know about the work from the experts. This year being a part of the symposium and getting the opportunity to personally interact with the speakers was a great experience. I think this symposium will help me in my future studies and research and will help me to understand where today’s research and technology has reached the field of cancer.